After Prom
by NephilimEQ
Summary: Liz needs someone to talk to about what she saw at Prom...who would be the most willing to listen and make her see the truth? Polar pairing. Enjoy! READ & REVIEW! Reviews feed my muse.
1. Chapter 1

**After Prom**

**1**

She was rocking out with Maria on the dance floor, sans shoes, her hair flying every which way, and she didn't care that it was being ruined because she was having too much fun trying to make Maria forget about Michael. However, in the back of her mind she was _certain_ that there was another explanation for what he was doing. She knew Michael too well and she knew, in her heart, that he would _never_ cheat on someone, even if they weren't really together.

Suddenly, as the two of them were dancing, Maria had turned…and then she froze.

Liz stopped as well, and then followed her friend's stare. And she felt her own heart skip a beat. It was Michael. And even though he was technically Maria's…good god, he looked good. He towered over all of the other boys and in Liz's eyes, he was no mere boy…he was a _man_. Pure male, through and through.

He stood straight, not a single hunch to his shoulders, his hair combed back, and the suit he wore was solid black, as well as the shirt, which was buttoned to the collar, sans tie, and to Liz it just made him stand out even more in the mass of students. He held himself like royalty, and it suited him. It seemed as though he'd been born to act this way, born to step into a room and have everyone take notice of him. Born to lead…even more so than Max, the one who'd been called to be king.

She could almost see the invisible burden that seemed settled on his broad shoulders, which were easily bearing the weight, and something inside of her stirred.

He didn't deserve someone like Maria. Her friend kept on treating him like a doormat, and he simply took it. The few times he'd tried to make a clean break from her, she'd managed to drag him back in, acting as though she'd never really meant it. She played on his insecurities mercilessly and it bothered Liz to no end.

But Maria wanted this night more than anything, so Liz pushed her towards Michael and said, "Okay, go."

Maria protested.

"No, no…me and you, we're a couple now."

Liz shoved down the angry retort that wanted to surface and pushed her again.

"Go…!"

As she watched her friend approach him, she couldn't help but listen in, and was silently thrilled to know that she was right, that Michael _hadn't_ been cheating on her, but trying to be better for her, to make her night special for her.

Liz then headed to the hallway, her shoes still in her hand, her thoughts still on Michael Guerin.

After a while she went back into the gym and sat down in one of the chairs, watching the couples dance by, a twinge of jealousy in her eyes as they went past.

And then she saw Michael and Maria…and she felt the twinge turn into a painful jab in her chest. She knew that she shouldn't be feeling this way, but as she watched Maria try to show her partner how to properly dance, she couldn't help but think that she would have been glad to simply be with him, and not have forced him to be something he wasn't. Yes, it was wonderful that he'd gone to all the trouble for her, but at the same time, he shouldn't have felt that he needed to be perfect for her.

Maria held such high expectations of so many people in her life, _especially_ Michael, and Liz felt that it was unfair.

She left after seeing Isabel and Alex kissing, and went back out into the hallway…and saw Max and Tess kissing. Even though it killed her, she knew that it was for the best. She went to the bowling alley and enjoyed some time with Sean, and then started to head home…but found her feet taking her to Michael's apartment, instead.

She didn't know what she was doing here.

She stood outside for the longest time, and then finally lifted her hand and knocked on the door, not even sure if he was even home. It _was_ Prom night, after all, and by all logic he should have still been out with Maria, partying the night away…

He opened it immediately.

"Parker?" He looked thoroughly confused. "What are you doing here? Is, uh, is something wrong?"

She just shook her head.

"No. Nothing's wrong. Can I…I was just…uhm, can I come in?"

He nodded and held the door open for her, and as she walked by him she caught his scent. His cologne from earlier that evening still lingered on his skin, but she could also smell _him_. God, it smelled amazing. She rubbed her arms and sidled past him into his apartment and sat down on his couch.

He closed the door and then turned to her, and that was when she noticed that he was still wearing what he'd worn to the prom, except his jacket was missing, his sleeves were rolled up, and the top few buttons of his shirt were undone. Her mouth and throat were suddenly dry, and she quickly swallowed, trying to return herself back to normal, and trying to ignore the feeling that was rising in her chest for her best friend's sort-of boyfriend.

She finally managed to say, "I saw Max kissing Tess."

He didn't say anything for a long moment and then said, "Yeah…I think we all saw _that_ coming. Even you, Parker…"

He gave her an intense look and she ducked her eyes, embarrassed, not actually meaning to say what she had just said, but knowing that it was the reason why she had come to him. She needed someone who could see things for what they really were.

She then whispered, "Yeah. I guess…I guess I did."

There was a long silence, during which Michael left the room and then came back with a cracked 'Aliens Are Among Us' mug filled with orange juice. She took it gratefully and drew her legs up on the couch, trying to ignore the fact that her dress hiked up on her legs.

Michael had noticed it as well, but he quickly averted his eyes, and instead focused on his own mug.

She looked over at him.

"So…you and Maria…?"

He shook his head.

"No, not really. You know Maria. On again, off again, but never really _on_, if you know what I mean…"

Liz nodded.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." She paused a moment, and then, without even thinking about the can of worms she was opening, she said, "You know, she doesn't deserve you, Michael. She _really_ doesn't."

He snorted and replied with, "Yeah, I know. The whole 'she can do so much better than you' speech. I've heard it before, Parker, just not from you."

She looked at him in shock, amazed that that was what he thought, and then clarified.

"No, Michael…that's _not_ what I mean." He gave her a second look over the rim of the mug, and she continued. "What I _mean_ is that _you're_ too good for _her_. She doesn't…she doesn't treat you the way you deserve to be treated. She treats you like a doormat, Michael…"

Her voice petered out and she suddenly realized what she had said and dropped her eyes, biting her lip.

She didn't see the look that crossed Michael's face.

It dissipated quickly, and then he cleared his throat, catching her attention and said, "How is it any better than the way Max always treated you?"

At his words, her head snapped up and their eyes caught each other. Burnished gold and chocolate brown held tightly together, and she felt her heart in her throat and her stomach roiled. She didn't know what to say or how to react.

Liz couldn't admit it out loud, but he was completely right.

They continued to stare at each other, both of them silently daring the other to look away first, neither one of them backing down from the accusation that lay in both of their eyes.

They looked away at the same time.

* * *

**Part 1/?**


	2. Chapter 2

**2**

Finally, after a long, silent pause, Liz found the courage to speak, and responded to his earlier question.

"You're right."

At that, Michael, who had been in the process of standing up and going towards the kitchen, snapped his head back in her direction, incredulity written on his features, and Liz swallowed back the bile that rose up in her throat once more, threatening to come out at any moment.

He continued to stare at her, not quite believing what she had just said, and she continued.

"Max did the same thing to me…I was just never willing to admit it." She tucked her knees closer to her body, her legs bent at ninety degrees to her body, and tugged on her dress, keeping her legs covered. "I guess…I guess I just wasn't ready to admit that I was wrong about him, you know? He was my white knight. He saved my life and everything…"

Her voice faded and she stared off into space as she finished with, "…but that wasn't enough to create true love, I guess. Infatuation, sure, but not _real_ love."

Michael, not trusting his vocal chords, simply nodded. He then noticed the socks.

"Parker, what's with the socks?"

She looked back up at him where he was still standing next to the couch, poised to head back into the kitchen, and her brow furrowed.

"Socks? What do you…" He motioned again and she looked down at her feet and then smiled. She'd completely forgotten that she was still wearing them. She stretched her toes in them and rolled her ankles slightly and said, "Oh. Just doing some lane walking…"

Michael gave her a faint grin.

"You mean sliding down the bowling lanes when no one's around? Yeah…I remember that. Sean DeLuca showed me how back when I was in sixth grade, back when he used to work at the bowling alley when he was still in high school…"

She looked up at him and smiled.

"Yeah, Sean just showed me how tonight. I, uh," she said, feeling slightly embarrassed, "Left early from the dance and went to the bowling alley. I was following up on a rain check. He was there. I was depressed. Lane walking ensued."

Michael actually let out a small laugh at this and then gave her a side smile, and she felt her heart skip a beat at the sight. _Goddamit, Guerin_, she thought to herself. _Quit doing stuff like that. You keep doing that and I won't be responsible for my actions._

And then he did something completely unexpected. He sat down next to her. She shifted as much as she could, trying to give him enough room, but his supposedly double couch didn't seem to be functioning as one and left virtually no room between them even when she had dropped her legs over the edge. So, when he leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, his hands clasped in front of him, it caused his thigh to press firmly against hers and she bit the inside of her lip, the entire time wondering what the hell was wrong with her.

How could she be having a reaction to him like this? Michael, of all people! He was the off-center one, the irrational one, the background one…but as she thought this, and then compared with what she'd seen over the past year from him, she corrected herself.

No, he was the centered one, the logical one, the one that was front and center. In fact, out of the three aliens of the group, he was the most receptive.

She thought back to when he'd returned her journal to her. She had been absolutely furious that he'd stolen it, but as soon as he'd explained why he had done it, she had completely understood. It had been the only course of action that he could take at the time.

Only a few months ago he'd been imprisoned for a crime that he'd actually committed and was still torn up about. No one else in the group seemed to notice or care, but Liz had and she knew that it could not have been sitting well with him. Everyone thought that because he didn't show any emotions that he didn't have any feelings, but she knew the opposite was true. People who hid their emotions usually had the most intense feelings and they hid it behind a mask of not caring.

In fact, even when they'd all gone to Las Vegas for a night of pure fun, he'd taken measures to keep them safe. He'd _known_ that he was going to cheat; therefore he knew that anyone with him at the time would be accused of helping him…which meant that he'd been trying to protect everyone, while at the same time trying to give Max a lesson.

God…the things that he'd done.

There was a long silence, and then he said, "Sean's a good guy. And he likes you, Parker…and, I think, that you like him."

Immediately she tried to protest, but he put up a hand and stopped her.

"Please, don't try and deny it. You get flustered when you're around him at first, but then, after a while, you two get along really well. The way couples are supposed to get along." He turned his head to the side and stared at her. "Think about it, Parker. He's a good guy and he's honest about who he is and what his flaws are. That's more than Max will ever be."

And with that, he stood up and walked into the kitchen, leaving Liz sitting on the couch, stunned, not quite believing what he had just said to her.

Suddenly, without even thinking about what she was saying, she turned on the couch to face the other room and said, "So are you, Michael."

He raised an eyebrow at her, and she quickly explained.

"You, too, are a good guy. And you've always been honest when you had to be, and you don't try and hide your flaws from anyone…" She paused a moment and then added, "Maybe that's why Maria and you have so many problems…"

Her mouth just kept on running, and she couldn't seem to stop it.

"…You show her who you are every day, but she picks and chooses what she wants to see or accept about you, which is why she's not with you when everything's going fine; because that's when you put up the most walls, trying to keep everyone reassured that you're okay. And it's why she's with you when times are tough; because that's when the best side of you always shines through. Your loyalty, your honesty…your humility…"

Her words were finally dry and she felt exposed. As though she'd said something that should never have been said out loud.

He simply stared at her.

And then a series of events unfolded that she had no power to stop…

It took only four steps for him to get back in the living room, another two 'till he was at her side, and then he was dropping to his knees in front of her, his hands going to either side of her face, sliding into her falling apart curls, and the next thing she knew he was kissing her.

Michael Guerin was kissing her…and it felt like the most natural thing in the world.

Instead of protesting, instead of shoving him back and asking what the _hell_ he thought that he was doing, she found her own hands coming up to his face and sliding into his hair, pulling him even closer and deepening their kiss.

A voice in the back of her mind, which sounded an awful lot like Maria, was yelling, '_What the hell are you doing? This is your _best friend's_ boyfriend! You should not be kissing him, _especially_ on Prom Night! The one night that's meant for the two of them! Maria will never forgive you!'_

…but then another voice, which for some _very_ odd reason sounded just like Alex, was whispering to her, '_You _know_ that you've always wanted this, Liz. You just cut yourself off from it because you never realized that Max was not love, merely misplaced hero worship.' _She tried to inwardly protest against this voice, but it then said, '_Don't lie to yourself, Liz. How many times have you noticed Michael and stared just a second too long whenever he walked into a room? How many times have you _accidentally_ brushed by him too closely in the Crash Down kitchen? You _knew_ you were attracted to him…you just never _did_ anything about it, and now he has done it for you.'_

After hearing both sides, she threw caution to the wind and let herself be pulled into his all-consuming kiss. Her lips parted slightly and when she felt his tongue slip past them, she welcomed the intrusion and slipped her own into his.

His kiss gentled, turned soft, and she felt an ache start to form in her chest and tears form in the corner of her eyes…and then she saw a flash…and then a lot more than one flash…

…_Michael, first day of high school, seated next to her in algebra and she flashing him a smile…Michael, being beaten by his father until his wrist broke, and then he stumbling out of the trailer until he saw the Crash Down, but not going inside, gritting his teeth and setting it himself as he watched Liz and her father clean up the tables…Michael, middle of sophomore year, stealing her journal and reading it up on top of the Crash Down, smiling and running his fingers over her flower doodles in the margins of the pages…_

The kiss deepened even further, one of his hands moving from her hair down to her neck.

…_Michael, at the amusement park, wrapping his arms around her as she cried into his shoulder, wishing that he could protect her from the world…Michael, in Vegas, looking down from the stage on Liz as she sat there all alone, wanting to ask her to dance…_

…and then the last one, the most recent…_Michael, at the Prom, stepping into the gym, his heart stopping the instant he saw Liz, her face flushed and her hair a tangled mess, and wanting nothing more than to take her in his arms at that moment and make her his…_

They both slowly pulled back and Liz breathed, "What…the hell…was that?"

He gave her a faint smile.

"I believe that's called chemistry, Parker…" She started to shake her head and he chuckled and then added before she could say anything more, "…and, yes. I saw flashes, too."

At that, she relaxed. She had been afraid that it was going to be all one sided, but now that she knew that he'd seen them, too, she didn't have any more problems. They said nothing, her hands still in his hair, his one hand still on her neck, the one that had been in her hair now softly brushing over her wrist.

"Liz," he whispered, saying her first name directly to her for once and she smiled.

"Michael," she whispered back, teasingly.

She relished in the touch and the moment, which seemed to hum with energy in the air between the two of them, and it seemed too perfect for words, so they said nothing, enjoying it for as long as they could, taking it in and savoring it.

* * *

**Part 2/?**


	3. Chapter 3

**3**

Finally, after a moment between them, Michael broke it. He let go of her and stood up, absently rubbing his fingers over his lips, as though trying to remove the stains of her lipstick, his eyes going hard.

"You should be going, Parker," he said, his voice almost devoid of emotion, and she immediately recognized what he was doing.

"No."

At that, his gaze snapped back to her, and instead of staying on the couch, she stood up and squared her shoulders, ignoring the fact that without any shoes he stood a good height above her, almost throwing her off balance with his natural intimidation, but she stood her ground.

"What did you just say?"

She tilted her chin defiantly up at him.

"You heard me, _Guerin_," she retorted, and she saw his eyes widen at her comment. "I _said_ no. I will _not_ let you cut me out the way that you've done to Maria, do you hear me? After what just happened I will kick and scream and claw my way back behind those walls were I _belong_," she said vehemently, her chest heaving, her eyes flashing. "I will not sit by and watch you wallow in self-pity or let you think that you don't deserve happiness, do you hear me, Guerin?"

At the end of her tirade she became aware of the fact that he was smiling.

"Loud and clear, Liz…loud and clear…"

He'd used her first name. She had him back. Once she realized that she let out a relieved sigh and leaned into him, wrapping her arms loosely around his waist, wanting to show her affection but not overwhelm him too much.

"Good, Michael. Good."

His arms came around her shoulders and he gently squeezed and then he dropped his lips to her ear and said, "Sorry about that. Instinct, you know? It's sort of a…well, a knee-jerk reaction to any kind of, uh, emotional sharing."

She just nodded against his chest.

"I know, Michael…it's okay. So long as you understand that I'm going to do everything in my power to get rid of it."

He chuckled and she smiled as heard it rumble through his chest from where her ear was pressed up against it. It was a pleasant sound that sent tingles through her, all the way down to her toes. He dropped a kiss on her head.

"Understood, Liz. Understood."

They stood there for a long time, just holding each other, while Liz tried to wrap her mind around what had just happened. How had she gone from being obsessed with Max, to suddenly realizing that Michael was the one that she'd been holding out for all this time? And why did she not feel any guilt about being with him in this moment? How was it that she was not the least bit worried about how Maria would react to finding out about all of this?

Or Max, for that matter?

She was aware that there would be savage repercussions, and perhaps unmanageable rifts would form…but for some unknown reason, it didn't bother her.

It should feel strange that in just a few minutes they had gone from glaring at each other across the room, to making out and giving each other flashes. She tried to sort it out in her head, and the only thing that she could come up with was the fact that she'd been so honest with him earlier.

She started to realize that it was rather odd, so she said, "Michael…is it strange that this happened so quickly, or does it feel like…like it was supposed to happen?"

He said nothing for a moment.

Finally he said, "It should feel strange, shouldn't it?"

She nodded against his chest.

"I guess…I guess it should, shouldn't it? But…it doesn't. It simply feels…right."

They continued to hold each other, neither of them willing to break the tenuous bond that had formed between them in a matter of mere minutes. But even as Liz thought about it, she realized that maybe it wasn't as sudden as the both of them thought.

There had been too many moments between them. And she had never truly been upset with him with anything that he did. In fact, most of the time she had found herself trying to explain to Max why Michael was doing what he was doing. She knew that Michael had always had his reasons for pulling what seemed to be crazy stunts, but often times he was right. Max would never admit it out loud, but even though Max was the supposed king, Liz had the idea that the reason why Michael, when he'd been Rath, had been his second in command was because he was the true intelligence behind it.

Each one of the three of them…hell, the _four_ of them, carried a different aspect to the group.

Max was the leader and was good at putting the greater good above all else. Sacrificing. Leading. Isabel was the emotional aspect of the group and brought sympathy, tempering the other, less emotional members. She was the conscience.

Tess, though Liz hated to admit it, was a good influence on Max, as she knew self-preservation and it helped her make the calls that no one else in the group would. She balanced Max's selflessness.

And then, of course, there was Michael. He seemed to be the intellect, the one who could analyze a situation objectively and see it from all sides. Someone who could see the big picture and the small picture at the same time. He was the go between for the other three of the group. Whenever Isabel and Max couldn't see eye to eye, he talked to both of them, helping them to see the other person's perspective. Whenever Max and Tess had problems in making a decision, he was able to lay out the facts for the both of them and show them the other's point of view. And he even did it with Isabel and Tess, whenever Isabel wanted to show mercy and Tess did not, he made the decision for them, as he could see all sides of the situation.

At this revelation, Liz finally realized why she and Max never truly worked.

He could never truly take something for himself, for him there was only his destiny and how he could affect it. And when he did try to be selfish, it worked out disastrously…because that wasn't how he was wired; it wasn't who he was.

Tess was good for him. _They _do_ belong together_, Liz thought to herself.

But Michael, on the other hand, was perfect for her. He had a mind that matched her own, for one, but in a different way. Where she was focused on scientific fact, he had an instinctive intuition about people that was almost scary in its accuracy and it made him her intellectual equal. But, unlike Tess's cold, calculating demeanor, his was warm and inviting. Even though he was objective, he still knew that he was allowed to give himself what he wanted from time to time, and that's what made him the perfect match for her.

It was what made him such a strong center for the group.

_And_, she thought to herself, _He'll treat me like an equal and not some girl up on a pedestal…_

That had been her biggest problem with Max. He'd put her up on this impossibly high pedestal and, even though it had been nice sometimes, she never felt as though he truly loved _her_; it was more like he loved the _idea_ of her. However, with Michael, she felt that she'd found an equal.

They could still have moments like this, where he held her in his arms, but at the same time she knew that he wouldn't constantly try to shield her. He would tell her to stand on her own two feet and face the world…but with him at her side. Not in front of her, trying to protect her from everything, but next her, giving her a weapon, knowing that she deserved to be there and to fight just as much as he did.

She didn't know where all of these thoughts came from, but for the first time in her life, everything made sense.

Being with Michael simply made sense.

* * *

**Part 3/?**


	4. Chapter 4

**4**

They pulled back at the same time and he looked down at her, a smirk on his lips.

"So, Parker…what are your plans for the night?"

She gave him a wry grin.

"Something called sleep, Guerin. Heard of it? It's when the brain shuts down for a while…oh, wait," she added teasingly. "You experience that all that time…"

He looked at her in surprise and she quickly pulled away and headed towards the door, but after a second of being frozen, shocked at her jab at him, he took just one step and reached out and grasped her wrist, pulling her back into his chest, her back against his front, and wrapped his left arm around her middle.

"What did you just say, Parker?"

His voice was low and his lips brushed against her ear as he spoke. She shivered slightly and he grinned.

Finally, she said, in a voice more breathless than she would have liked, "You heard me, Guerin…"

He chuckled and then turned her around with one tug of his hand and placed a lingering kiss on her lips, and both of them took pleasure in the fact that it felt completely natural for him to do so. They never would have thought it, but they felt completely comfortable around each other.

She pulled back slightly and gave him a smile.

"Still...I do have to go. Dad's expecting me home by midnight and it's already…" She stretched her neck and looked at the clock in his kitchen. "…eleven forty. And it's a ten minute walk back to the Crash Down from here."

He nodded.

"Okay…then I'll see you tomorrow?"

She could hear the hesitance in his tone and she gave him a reassuring smile and gently reached over and grasped his fingers with her own, squeezing them.

"Yeah. Tomorrow." She then let go and turned to leave, but paused in his doorway and added, "I _better_ see you, Guerin…you have a job to get to in the morning, and if you're not there, you'll be _out_ of a job." She arched an eyebrow and he nodded.

"Yeah. I'll be there…"

She then flashed him another smile and left, leaving Michael feeling the most content that he'd felt in a long time.

It never felt this way with Maria. With Maria there was always a feeling of guessing around her, a feeling of uncertainty, and it drove him mad. He liked to be sure about things, and with the mercurial DeLuca girl he never knew where he stood with her.

But with Liz…god, with her it suddenly felt as though he were breathing for the first time. He truly had no idea until tonight just how suffocated he'd felt around Maria until Liz had stepped so intimately into his life. And, for some odd reason, he didn't feel that he was betraying or being untrue to her because for the first time in his life he felt that he was being true to himself. It was a freeing feeling and he found that he didn't want to let it go.

Only moments after she'd left, he was missing her. He'd never felt that way with Maria.

He looked down at the couch where she had been sitting and he smiled.

Yeah. This was a good thing for him.

He then went to his room and quickly changed out of his clothes, getting into a pair of boxers and an old gray t-shirt and started to get ready for bed. Normally he wasn't in bed until close to two in the morning, but tonight he didn't want to stay up. He wanted time to pass more quickly until he could see Liz again.

It sounded corny in his head, and he realized that it was like something out of one of those stupid chick flicks that Maria was always dragging him to, but he now realized that it was true.

When you found someone, _truly_ found someone who was your match, being away from them was like being away from something that was a part of you, and it hurt.

_God, I sound like an idiot_, he thought to himself as he threw himself on the bed, but a faint smirk crossed his lips as he started to settle in the covers. _But I wouldn't have her any other way, _he silently finished as he drifted to sleep.

* * *

As Liz walked back home, a permanent smile seemed to be affixed to her face as she could not help but smile as she thought about the events of the night. As she thought about blonde hair and soft, whiskey colored eyes. How could she _not_ smile when thinking about him?

Now that she had actually experienced it, she could see the difference between what she had felt for Max and what she now felt for Michael Guerin.

With Max there had been a sense of…obligation, almost, because of the fact that he had saved her life, and she'd never noticed it until now. Never seen the true underlying emotion that had tainted her supposed feelings of love. She had thought that Max could do no wrong for the longest time, and had defended him for the first few months of knowing him, but then had slowly stopped doing so, but she only now realized why she _had_ been defending him.

It was so simple now that she could see it. He had saved her life and she had been trying to repay that debt.

But now she understood that it wasn't meant to be repaid. And that she had no obligation to act the role of the enamored and helpless damsel in distress. That was what Max was looking for…and she wasn't one anymore.

She was a fighter in her own right. And Michael was someone that could recognize that and respect it.

Before she knew it, she was back at the Crash Down and as she pulled out her key and unlocked the front door, she smiled, yet again, and decided there wasn't any reason to stop smiling, so she would continue to do so for the rest of the night if she wanted to.

After she stepped in and locked the door behind her, she headed towards the back to go up to her room, but then was surprised when she heard her father's voice.

"So, looks like _you_ had a good night…"

She looked up and saw him standing in the doorway to the office, leaning against the frame, arms crossed over his chest. But instead of an accusatory look, she was pleased to see a small smile and look of approval in his eyes.

Liz nodded.

"Yeah, I really did, Dad."

He gave her an even broader smile.

"Where's your escort? Didn't Max bring you home…?" but his voice trailed as he saw something in his daughter's eyes that seemed wince at the sound of the young man's name, and he then added, nodding as he did so, "…Max is with…someone else, isn't he?"

She sheepishly nodded, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"But," he said, observing his daughter's behavior, "You don't seem all that upset about it."

Liz shrugged.

"Well…not really. I mean, we were only going together as friends, anyway, and besides…I think he needs her. And, uh, that she needs him."

He nodded and then asked pointedly, "In that case, where were you all night?"

This time there _was_ a slightly accusatory tone in his voice and she could also see some worry in his eyes. Of course he was worried about her. Even though he'd never approved of Max, he'd probably still been aware of how much that he'd supposedly meant to her.

Quickly, she reassured him.

"I went over to the bowling alley and did some lane walking with Sean." She could see the questions about to come, so she quickly covered all of the answers before he could get to them. "He was a perfect gentleman, Dad, and all we had was soda. Besides, he'd asked me if I'd wanted to before and I had to cancel on him. I was still feeling depressed about Max, so I took him up on the offer and he helped me have some mindless fun to get my mind off of things."

She then motioned with one hand down to her feet and wiggled her toes.

"See…socks for lane walking. Why else would I be wearing them with my dress?"

At that, he chuckled.

"You gotta point there, peanut." She tried not roll her eyes at the pet name, but then he added, "Still…you sure you didn't go anywhere else?"

There was a catch in her eyes, and he knew that was right on his hunch. He'd had a feeling that she'd been holding something back from him. Something important…but at the same time, he had the feeling that, whatever it was, it was meant to be private and that it was nothing bad.

She finally said, "Uh…I, uh…went to see Michael, after."

Liz could barely believe that she'd just told her father that and was waiting for a stern lecture, but all he said was, "…Good. How's he doing?"

She nearly tripped over her words as she responded.

"Uh, he's….he's doing fine. Uh, great, even! Just…uh, Dad…why aren't you more upset about this?"

He smiled, reading more into her stuttering than she realized.

"After working with him, Liz, I know that he's a good young man. He's got a lot more work ethic and integrity than most of the grown men that I know. I trust him to keep my daughter safe," he added, a slightly enigmatic look in his eyes.

He then reached his arms out, inviting her for a hug, and she gladly gave him one, pleased that he wasn't upset. He gently squeezed her shoulders and then pulled back, tucking a strand of stray hair back behind her left ear.

"Sleep well, honey."

"I will dad," she said as she started up the stairs.

As soon as she was back in her room, she slipped out of her dress and thought about getting into her sleep pants and sleep shirt, but instead threw on a pair of old jeans, a white t-shirt and a green cardigan. After cleaning off her makeup, brushing her hair and brushing her teeth, she thought about going for a walk, but then her eyes alit on her journal. She hadn't written in it in a long time…but after tonight…

Before she could question the impulse, she grabbed it and began to write, putting all of her jumbled thoughts into some sort of order on the pages in front of her.

_We try to live responsible, logical lives. But we can't tell our hearts what to feel…_

She paused, thinking about Isabel and Alex, Max and Tess, the way Michael and Maria had been. She continued to write.

…_Sometimes our hearts lead us to places we thought we never wanted to go. _

She thought about her and Michael. She had never expected them to end up where they had tonight. It had never, truly crossed her mind. Of course there had been the thoughts along the lines of, _He looks nice today_, or _That color really brings out his eyes_. But she'd never thought that they would ever go any further than that.

_And sometimes out hearts can be the sweetest, gentlest things we have. _

Liz then thought of how their first kiss had been completely unexpected for her. How soft it had been; so unlike the way Michael normally projected himself to the world. His heart was the best thing about him, and almost no one knew it.

She wrote down some more.

_Sometimes our hearts can make us feel miserable, angry, excited, and confused all at once. But at least my heart is open, and I'm writing again. I'm feeling. I'm feeling. I'm breathing._

She smiled at the last words she wrote. Yes, she truly was breathing again. She'd never realized how much she had been suffocating when she'd been with Max…hell, even when she _hadn't_ been with him, he'd been suffocating her from afar with his longing looks and gazes.

But with Michael…she could breathe. She could feel the air coming back to her and it tasted sweeter than anything that she'd ever known.

He was what she'd been looking for.

Now, she just had to hold onto him.

* * *

**Part 4/?**

**A.N. - As I was writing this, every time I tried to spell Michael's name with Maria's I ended up misspelling it "Micahel" and had to fix it, but every time that I wrote it with Liz's, it came out fine. Hmm...I think my fingers are trying to tell me something. ;)**


	5. Chapter 5

**5**

When Liz woke up the nest morning, a strange feeling lingered in the air, and she quickly realized that it was because of the night before. Everything felt a bit more surreal in the light of day than it had the night before. But as she took her shower and got ready for work, the feeling dissipated slightly.

She knew it would all depend on how Michael reacted to her this morning.

If he acted as though nothing had happened, she would be hurt, but able to move one. However, on the other hand, if he acknowledged it…well, she honestly had no idea as to how she would react. And that, interestingly enough, made her smile.

She finally decided to put it to the side and not think about it.

Liz went downstairs, said good morning to her dad…and was stopped in her tracks when she saw that Michael was already there, frying away in the kitchen.

He happened to look up at just the right moment and caught her eye. He smirked.

"Morning, Liz," he said, and she saw that his eyes were softer than they normally were and she realized that he'd used her first name. That, combined with the smile, told her that he was acknowledging everything that had happened between them last night in his apartment.

She returned his smile.

"Morning, Michael…"

He flipped the omelet that he was finishing and put it onto a plate. He then turned off the griddle, wiped his hands on the towel at his waist, and then came out from the kitchen, giving her a look with a raised eyebrow.

Liz was taken aback when he placed his left hand around her back, gently pressing his fingers against her waist and then placed a soft kiss to her right temple.

"How was your night?"

Deciding to simply go with it, and to not question it, she looked up at him and smiled.

"Pretty good, actually. I, uh...met this _guy_," she said teasingly, giving him a look up through her lashes. "He's pretty cute…blonde hair, gold-brown eyes…pretty dreamy…"

He grinned and gently squeezed her waist and then said, "Anything else about him I should know about?" She shrugged. "Like…his amazing sense of humor? His hot bod? Uh, anything to that effect by any chance?"

She bit her lip and smiled up at him.

"Maybe…"

He grinned back.

She then said, "About last night…I, uh, I told my dad that I stopped by your place…" She felt him tense up, so she quickly reassured him with, "…and he was completely okay with it. He says that he trusts you to keep me safe."

At that, Michael looked surprised, and he pulled back from her and said, "Really? Because I thought that the 'Guerin boy' was nothing but trouble…"

Liz shook her head.

"Apparently not so much once you started working for him. He says that you have a good work ethic."

She flashed him a smug grin and then turned away from him and started her usual morning routine, leaving him looking a bit taken aback at first, but then another smile snuck into the corner of his mouth as he stared at her.

He watched her work for a moment and then went back into the kitchen, taking a bite of the omelet that he'd just made; it was his breakfast. It was a part of his normal routine, and they both knew that they didn't have much time for anything during work; work came first and the both of them knew that and respected each other for it. It was something that hadn't changed between them since the dynamic change in their relationship the night before.

Right as they opened, Sean DeLuca walked in and sat down at the counter and said, "Sonic scramble, please, with extra cheese."

Liz gave him a broad smile.

"Coming right up."

She looked over at Michael and said, "Michael, sonic scramble, extra cheese."

"Got it, Liz" he said, a faint smile on his face.

He started to cook it immediately and she flashed him a grateful smile in return and then turned back to Sean. He was giving her an odd look, something like a smirk on the edge of his lips. She wasn't sure how to react to it, so she focused once more on her usual routine, her hands going on automatic, not really thinking about what she was doing.

After a few seconds Sean said, "Okay, Parker. Spill."

She looked up at him and tried to feign ignorance.

"What?"

He just shook his head, amazed that she thought that she could hide anything from him. She was an awful liar and as easy to read as an open book. He gave her the look again, this time arching an eyebrow.

"Seriously, Parker? You think you're fooling me? Last night at the alley, you were absolutely and completely miserable. Now this morning you are acting as though you're on top of the world. Something happened. So, spill."

Liz, again, tried to feign ignorance and then tried to explain it away.

"What are you talking about, Sean? I mean, the lane walking helped, you know-"

He cut her off.

"Nuh uh, lane walking doesn't do _this_. Something _else_ happened last night. Something _after_ the lane walking. And, considering the fact that Guerin over there just called you by your first name, and you just called him by _his_ first name and that you can't seem to stop smiling, I'm thinkin' that it has somethin' to do with him. So, as I've said twice before…spill."

She tried to stare him down, but soon crumbled under his glare and caved.

"Alright, alright…! But, if I tell you this, Sean, you can't tell _any_one. Any. One. Understand?"

He nodded and made an "x" over his heart.

"Cross my heart, hope to die."

She rolled her eyes and made an exasperated sound in the back of her throat, but he just stared back at her, and she finally relented.

"Okay, fine. After the lane walking, I ended up over at Michael's. We talked and decided…well, that we like each other." Maria's cousin simply raised an eyebrow and she sighed. "Okay, fine. We kissed, alright? We kissed and we both liked it and…well, you can't tell anyone, okay?" she implored, her eyes slightly desperate.

Because Liz knew that in Maria's eyes she and Michael were back together just because he showed up last night at Prom to dance with her.

She knew that Maria was probably going to be convinced that a few dances was Michael's way of telling her that he was madly in love with her or something to that effect, when the truth was that he had done it simply to make her happy.

Sean just looked at her and then said, "Okay. I won't tell anyone…I don't see what the big deal is, though. You and Guerin have had that unresolved sexual tension thing for a while, now…"

She looked at him in shock, not hearing Michael telling her that DeLuca's order was ready.

She finally snapped out of it when she heard her dad say, "Liz!"

Her head snapped up and looked up at her father, who had just walked in from the back office, a ledger notebook in one of his hands and a pen tucked behind his right ear, a concerned look on his face at the look on his daughter's face.

"Yeah, dad?"

He motioned towards the kitchen window, where Michael was staring expectantly at her and looking pointedly at the plate sitting on the receiving side.

"Sean's order?"

"Right…right, dad. Sorry, I was…distracted."

She grabbed the plate and put it in front of the person who had caused her distraction and then leaned in close and in a fierce whisper said, "What are you talking about, DeLuca? What unresolved…sexual…well, whatever? I mean, we've never even thought of each other…_that_ way, until last night!"

He just smirked at her and picked up one of the home fries and took a bite out of it and said, "Yeah, sure. Just keep telling yourself that…"

She was about to open her mouth to retaliate, but then the front bell rang…

…and in walked Maria.

And Max.

And then she saw Tess, Isabel, Kyle and Alex in tow…

Liz silently groaned.

One night in something close to heaven and now she was going to have the morning from hell. It seemed as though the gods of fate had it in for her. She grit her teeth and tightened her jaw and prepared herself for the next hour to come.

She prayed that she would come out unscathed.

* * *

**Part 5/?**


	6. Chapter 6

**6**

Maria rushed up to the counter and grabbed her friend's hands and rapidly said, "Guess what, guess what, guess what!"

Liz shrugged.

"I don't know, I don't know, I don't know?"

Maria rolled her eyes.

"C'mon, Liz! Use that big brain of yours! Michael came to Prom last night and you _know_ what _that_ means…!" Her voice had reached an unpleasantly high pitch and Liz winced slightly, and then shook her head. Maria rolled her eyes again. "It _means_, Liz, that we're back together! Yay!"

She just faintly nodded and then asked, "And why does it mean that?"

Maria gave her a look.

"Uh, because this is _Michael_ we're talking about, honey. He's a boy. He's adorable in his cluelessness, and he and I both know that he couldn't live without me to keep him in line. He would never say it out loud, of course, but it's the sad truth," she said, looking over Liz's shoulder at the boy in question, who was unaware of the conversation occurring between the two girls.

Liz gave her friend a look and then said, carefully, "Look, Maria…are you sure about that? I mean, Max and I went to Prom together last night, but it didn't mean-"

Maria interrupted her.

"Oh! Yes, and what happened between the two of you last night? I saw you all smiley when you're talking to Sean and Max certainly seems in a good mood this morning. Did you two, you know…?"

She made a slightly crude motion with her hands and the brunette gaped at her in shock, before putting her hands over both of her friend's and then gave her a hard look as she said, "No! We most certainly did _not!_ Actually, for your information, I left early and went to the _bowling alley…_"

She pointedly added that last part and Maria was now the one gaping at her in shock.

"No…don't tell me that you and Sean…!"

Liz made a noise of disgust.

"Ugh! No! We just did some lane walking," she said, a faint smile on her lips. "It was fun and it kept my mind off of _Max_…"

Maria noticed the tone in her friend's voice and immediately picked up on the fact that something had happened between the two people that she thought to be the perfect couple.

"Something _did_ happen with Max last night, though, didn't it…that's why you left early." She paused and thought it over. "I thought since I didn't see _you_ after ten, and I didn't see _Max_ after ten, that you two had skived off early to go, uh, have some _alone_ time…but that's not what happened, is it?"

Liz shook her head and was about to explain, but then saw her dad giving her a look from the corner of her eye.

"I'll tell you later, Maria…it looks like my dad's about to go on the warpath if I don't get back to work," she said, slightly upset that she didn't have the chance to explain what had happened with Max.

Her friend gave her a reassuring smile.

"It's all good, sweet pea…I'll expect all the details tonight, along with ice cream, alright?"

Liz nodded and went back to work, heading out from behind the counter to serve the few other customers who had come in, besides her motley crew of friends. As she finished taking the order of an older gentleman, she saw Max and Tess out of the corner of her eye. They were sitting next to each other in a booth, across from Isabel and Alex, Kyle in a chair he pulled up to the table, and Liz could tell from the way that they were sitting that their legs were pressed up tightly against each other.

She expected to feel a pang of sadness, or at least some anger…but she was surprised to feel nothing. It honestly didn't bother her. Feeling relieved, she took the orders over to Michael and then walked over to their table and gave everyone a broad smile.

"Hey, guys…how was the rest of the night?"

Kyle looked up at her and smiled.

"Actually, it wasn't half bad. But where did you disappear off to? Didn't see you after ten…"

Liz shrugged.

"Eh, decided it wasn't really a big deal, you know, and went for a walk over to the bowling alley," she said, not worried at all about telling people about the time she'd spent with Sean. "Did some lane walking with Sean for a while and then headed home."

Of course she left out the part about Michael. They weren't ready for that, yet.

Kyle laughed and said, "Oh, man! Lane walking…I haven't done that in ages…"

Alex was nodding as he spoke and added, "I remember when I used to do that in middle school. Sean used to sneak me in. It was awesome!"

Isabel then asked, "Oh, and did he also show you how to get past the night guard without getting caught?"

Max smiled at that and said, "Yeah…it's all about remembering to go in when he's on the far side of the alley, closest to night gym where they used to have their late night yoga fitness class in front of the windows."

At this, Liz let out an exasperated sigh and gestured with one, her other hand resting on the edge of the booth.

"Geez, did _every_one know about lane walking before I did? I mean, first Mi…" She suddenly realized what she had been about to say and quickly covered up, knowing that if she said anything about Michael they would all want to know about how she knew. They were the two that interacted the least in the group. "…first my ex-boyfriend, then my _best_ friend, and then the Evans wonder twins!"

At that, the four of them, excluding Tess, who obviously was uncomfortable at being out of the loop, began to laugh.

She gave them all a look.

"Gee, thanks, guys, as if the being left out part wasn't bad enough. The laughing really helps."

The sarcasm laced her words like thick icing.

Tess looked up at her sympathetically and said, "Well, I haven't been inducted into the lane walking club yet, so don't feel too bad about it." And the slightly off-center smile that she gave her made her smile as well, as she saw the sincerity in it.

"Thanks, Tess," she said, and everyone seemed to notice that the tension that had been there previously was now gone.

Max carefully reached for Tess's hand and Liz gave him a smile and small nod, and she could see the relief cross his face and his body language.

Suddenly, everyone seemed to be looking at something behind her and she slowly turned around…and saw her dad standing behind her, arms crossed over his chest, his gaze darkening by the moment, and she shrank under his gaze.

"Liz…tables. Now."

She meekly nodded, and then chanced a glance over at the kitchen and saw Michael smirking at her. She glared back at him. His smirk changed into a soft smile. Her tightened lips tried to stay angry, but she relented and the corners of her mouth turned up.

Quickly, she turned back to the tables that she was supposed to have been busing, and because she did it so quickly, she was unaware of the fact that a pair of blue eyes caught the look that passed between them.

The pair of eyes turned back to his table when someone called his name.

"Kyle!"

He shook his head and looked at Tess, who had called him.

"Yeah…?"

She gave him a look and said, "Did you hear what I just asked you?"

He nodded.

"Course I did."

"So, then…yes or no?"

She arched an eyebrow and then leaned forward and, tossing her golden curls over her shoulder, gave him a challenging look. He took in the look, and quickly said, "Ye-es, of course…why wouldn't the answer be yes?"

At this, Tess looked at everyone in the group and soon everyone's smiles were breaking and they were all laughing.

"What? What did I just do?"

Alex, who was closest to him, clapped a hand over his shoulder and said, "Well, Kyle, you've just agreed to help Tess with the knitting group at the local nursing home tomorrow morning at eight o' clock, sharp!"

He groaned and dropped his head to his hands on the table.

After a moment, he raised his head, his gaze solemn.

""Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care for people will hear them and be influenced by them for good or ill."," he quoted. "It was my own fault for not listening. I will learn from this and from now on…say _no_ to anything you may ever ask me in the future when I'm not paying attention."

Isabel rolled her eyes slightly.

"Really? Do you have a Buddha quote for everything, Kyle?"

He tilted his head, thought for a moment, and then said, "Yeah. Pretty much."

They all chuckled and then went back to their previous discussion. Kyle joined in, but in the back of his mind he still lingered on the looks that he had seen between Liz and Michael. Something was going on there…he was _certain_ of it.

* * *

**Part 6/?**


	7. Chapter 7

**7**

As their shifts winded down, Liz headed to the back and quickly removed her alien hair accessory and put it on top of the lockers. She was absolutely wiped out after the long day that she'd had, and she was fairly certain that Michael felt the same way.

Just as she thought about him, he appeared in the doorway to the kitchen and caught her eye. And then he gave her one of _those_ smiles. One of the ones that she'd seen him use with Maria in the past, and she suddenly felt light headed. Her stomach then flipped and she felt a plethora of butterflies erupt behind her rib cage, trying to escape…and she couldn't understand why she was reacting in such a way. This was _Michael_, for crying out loud! But the instant she tried to rationalize it in her head, he approached her and gently placed a hand on her waist and then dropped his lips to her ear.

"So…"

Just one word and she felt her heart rise in her throat. It was a compromising position should anyone walk in and see them, but she didn't really care. Her eyes were locked on his shoulder, the tight shirt only emphasizing the muscles hidden beneath.

She snaked her hand up to it, unable to resist the urge, and pressed her fingertips and the palm of her hand into his shoulder. She then leaned in and took a deep breath, inhaling the unpleasant scent of fried burgers and onions, but underneath it she could smell him. And it was nice. More than nice, actually, and she wondered just how he would smell freshly out of the shower, and at that thought the sudden image of Michael in nothing but a towel, with a faint sheen of water all over him, appeared vividly in her mind's eye.

A spark ran down her spine and settled into a low burn.

Unnoticed by both of them was a pair of not-so-surprised blue eyes that stared through the small window into the back room. The man attached to the eyes stopped his hand that had been about to push against the swinging door and then simply shook his head and walked away.

They continued to enjoy the moment, and then Michael gently tightened his fingers on Liz's waist and whispered into her ear, "When do you want to tell everyone?"

At that, all of her reactions to his close proximity went cold. The butterflies were now dry husks on the pit of her stomach, and her heart was suddenly level with them, as well. He wanted to _what?_ Tell them? But…why would he want to tell them so soon? Nothing had really happened, not really. They had shared a few kisses and a few touches; was it really that important?

He pulled back slightly, feeling her stiffen beneath his touch at his question.

He could see the look on her face. She looked like a deer caught in headlights, and he realized he would have to quickly rectify the situation.

"Liz, are you okay?"

There was a pause, and then she nodded. After an uncomfortably long pause, she pulled back from his hand, looked him in the eye, and then said, "I…I guess I'm just surprised that you want to tell them. I mean, it's not like it's something that everyone needs to know right away, is it…?"

Michael then realized that she hadn't thought through what was going to happen next, and he quickly explained his reasoning.

"I…I know it seems sudden, Liz, since it just happened last night, but I'm positive that I want this to happen, and it _can't_ happen if Maria still thinks that she has a shot with me, and even if we decided to tell _only_ Maria…well, how long do you think it would stay a secret?"

Her body, which had been tense with apprehension, eased up and she dropped her stiffened shoulders, slowly understanding his point of view.

"Yeah," she said, and she saw Michael's body language become comfortable, as well, at her admission. "You're right, of course," she added, waving a hand in his direction. "They need to know about us. And, besides, they're gonna have to know about the flashes. I mean, that can't just be a coincidence, now, can it?"

At that Michael's eyebrows rose. He hadn't even thought about that part of it.

Liz saw his reaction and a wry smile appeared on her lips.

"The flashes never even occurred to you, did they?"

He gave her a sheepish shrug and ran a hand through his hair, not quite meeting her eye, and said, "No…uh, not really. I guess…I guess since you had them with _Max_, I sorta thought that it didn't really matter that we, you know, had them, too…"

She could suddenly see his blazing insecurity and she walked back up to him and gently gripped both of his hands in her own, holding his gaze.

"Michael…this is _different_. _Way_ different. With Max there were just stars and childhood memories filled with affection, which is sweet, I'll grant you, but _nothing_ like what the two of us shared last night." She lifted one of her hands to his face and cupped his jaw. "With you…I saw _every_thing. All the way up to how you felt last night at the Prom. And I felt something with you that I've never felt with Max."

She paused, making sure that she had his attention, and then said, "Passion. Admiration. Friendship." She paused a second time, running her fingers from his jaw up to the hair at his temple, gently brushing it away. "And there was something else there. Something that amazed me, Michael…"

"What?"

She gave him a firm look, holding his eyes tightly with her own.

"There was respect."

He looked surprised and confused at that and then hesitantly asked, "Why…why did that amaze you?"

A corner of her mouth quirked up and she just shook her head.

"You really have no idea, do you?" He nodded at her comment and she let out a small laugh. "Fine. I'll tell you why. Because Max, in all of his proclamations of telling me that he loved me, never, not _once_, truly respected me. He thought he had to protect me every step of the way and that he had to keep me out of harm by even cutting me out sometimes, keeping me behind him. But when the two of us kissed, Michael, I could feel your respect for me. I know that you want to protect me, but I know that you also expect me to stand on my own two feet and fight right beside you. Max only ever wanted to be _between_ me and the world. You want to stand _beside_ me and face the world together."

He looked at her in shock, and then, not caring if anyone walked in, suddenly took two bold steps forward and pressed her up against the lockers and pinned her with a fierce kiss. She moaned into the kiss, her hands rising up around his neck as she enthusiastically responded to it.

After what felt like twenty minutes, but was most likely only two or three, he pulled back, and was pleased with what he saw.

Her mouth was flushed and her eyes were glazed…and he decided that he wanted to continue seeing that sight for as long as he could.

They were both short of breath, but at the sound of steps on the stairs they pulled apart, and Liz hastily adjusted her uniform, trying to straighten it as best as she could so that whoever entered the room was not aware of what had taken place only moments before. She rubbed her fingers over her lips, feeling that practically anyone would be able to see the stamp of passion that Michael had just placed on her.

Michael merely tugged on his shirt and then turned to his locker, pulling it open with one hand as he untied the apron from around his waist with the other.

Liz looked up as the person entered into view on the stairs and she felt herself start to sweat. It was her father.

"Liz," he said, not noticing the fact that she was practically paralyzed at the thought that he had nearly walked in on her and Michael making out, "Do you think that you could do inventory with me this evening after we close up? I need to know what we need to order for our next shipment."

He seemed distracted, as he had a pen and a clipboard in his hand, so she simply nodded.

"Sure, dad. No problem."

As she said this, she turned to her own locker and snagged her alien headband from on top of the lockers and put it inside. She then took off her own apron and shoved it in next to it, and then was about to make a hasty exit upstairs, and she was already on the fourth step, when she then heard…

"Oh, Mr. Parker, Liz and I were going to have a study session later tonight. There's a science test on Tuesday and I kinda need all the help I can get…do you mind if I help out with the inventory so that Liz and I can have more time to study?"

Liz looked over at Michael in shock, her eyes wide.

He was lying? To her _dad?_

But then she was even more surprised when she heard her dad say, "Sure, Michael. The help's appreciated, and I'm sure Liz won't mind the extra set of hands." He turned to her, tucking the pen in his hand behind his ear. "Do you, honey?"

She just shook her head, not trusting herself to speak without her voice cracking.

"Great, Mr. Parker. I'll be by at closing."

Her dad just smiled and said, "See you then," and then walked back through the door out on the floor. Liz was about to say something, but then their second cook walked in and grabbed an apron off of the back shelf. After he'd walked into the kitchen, Liz glared at Michael from where she still stood on the stairs.

"Why did you just lie to my dad?" she hissed, and Michael could see that she was upset, so he quickly told her.

"Okay, one," he said, holding up a finger, "I _didn't_ lie to him. We actually _do_ have a test in science on Tuesday, so, I _am_ gonna need your help on that…"

Her stance eased up at that as she remembered that he was right about that, and just as she was about to respond to his comment, he then walked up the first three steps, making the two of them at eye level, and dropped his hand and said, "And _two_…I thought that the two of us might need some time to figure out what to say to everyone about us. You were right about one thing."

In a surprisingly steady voice she said, "What about?"

He gave her a grim smile.

"It's too soon. And if we go to them and tell them that it all happened in one night, no one's going to believe us or take us seriously." She eased up even more, and then he reached out and put his hand on her shoulder and gently added, "Let's wait a few days. Let's actually study tonight, and then talk in the morning. Sound good?"

She nodded and let out a sigh of relief.

"Yeah. Sounds good." He rubbed her shoulder reassuringly and she gave him a wry smile. "By the way, way to think on your feet back there. Trying to sneak in another _session_?" she asked, arching an eyebrow so that he knew exactly what he implied.

He didn't even bat an eye.

"You know I am."

She felt another spark, like the one that she'd felt before, and it ran down her spine, sparking all of her nerve endings along the way.

It was empty in the back room and they were partially hidden on the stairs. A million possibilities entered both of their minds, and Michael was ready to pull back, but was shocked when Liz took the initiative and in a flash of movement slid her fingers into his hair and pulled him forward for a brief but passion filled kiss.

It was over almost as soon as it started, and he looked at her in shock, slightly out of breath.

She then gave him a smile that he'd never seen before…it was downright mischievous.

"Then I'll see you then, Guerin."

And with that, she turned and raced up the stairs, and he could hear her laughing to herself as he watched her ponytail disappear around the corner at the top of the stairwell. He stared at the empty space for a moment longer, not quite believing what he was seeing…and then turned and walked back down the stairs, a low laugh escaping him. So, it seemed that Liz Parker was not the perfectly wholesome girl-next-door that she claimed to be.

Well, that was fine with him.

A wicked smile crossed his lips, and he turned back to his locker, stripping off his shirt as he did, and pulled out a clean_er_ shirt, looking forward to taking a shower when he got home.

Just as he was pulling it over his head, he heard the door between the back and the floor swing open.

As soon his shirt hit his belt line, a pair of feminine arms wrapped around his waist, which were attached to blonde hair and the most mercurial attitude that he'd ever met in his life. Oh, god. What was Maria doing here?

"Hey, sweetie," she said, leaning up for a kiss, but he managed to turn his head just in time so that it landed on his cheek, and then he quickly extricated himself out of her arms.

She gave him a look as he grabbed his coat and slid his wallet into his back pocket.

"Okaaay," she said, drawing out the vowel, immediately noticing his behavior. "What's up with the dodge?"

He gave her a shrug and then brushed her off the way that he usually did, knowing that she most likely would still think that he was simply being Michael, and then ignore it and still somehow believe that the two of them were back together, despite every "go away" message that he tried to send her, without ever trying to deliberately hurt her feelings.

"Gotta go home and get a shower. I've got study plans tonight."

There. He'd actually managed to tell her the truth. Not a single lie had been spoken. He was off to a good start. Now he just had to get out of there before she asked any more questions. He turned and headed for the door, but she grabbed his arm and turned him back around.

No dice.

"Really. Study plans, you? Yeah, sure, Michael…c'mon, you know you'd rather spend the evening with me, and, trust me, that can be arranged," she said, trying to slide her arms back around his waist, but he managed to dodge her grip and got his hand on the doorknob.

"Maria, I'm serious," he said, leveling his eyes on hers. "I've got a test on Tuesday and Parker's promised to help me study, so long as I pick up a couple of her shifts next week."

Okay, _one_ lie had slipped in.

She gave him a look and then tossed her hands in the air.

"Fine! Fine. But don't think I'm giving up that easily, Guerin," she said, but it lacked any of the warmth and affection that Liz had when she had said it to him only a minute before, so he simple turned around and walked out the back door, praying that she wouldn't cause any more trouble.

* * *

**Part 7/?**


	8. Chapter 8

**8**

Liz was wiping down a table when Michael walked in later that evening, his backpack slung over his shoulder, and before he noticed her she managed to get in a long appreciative glance. He was wearing a dark green t-shirt that hugged him in the right places and jeans that were doing the same thing that his shirt was doing to his chest to his legs. God, how was it possible that he was even _attracted_ to her when he looked that good? Wasn't it some sort of universal law that guys that good looking only dated models or something?

A warm feeling settled in her chest as she realized that he was all hers. Feeling bold, she cast a quick glance around the empty Crash Down, making sure that her dad wasn't in sight, and then quickly walked over to him and placed a soft kiss on his lips, tucking the edge of the cleaning cloth into her back pocket.

"Hey, you," she then said, pulling back far enough so that if her dad walked in it would look like that they were just talking.

He gave her the smile that he'd given her earlier that day and she felt her knees weaken slightly.

"Hey, you," he said, turning her phrase back on her.

She was about to lean in and chance a slightly longer kiss, when she then heard her dad walk through the back door saying, "Okay, sweet pea, time to tackle The List! Tonight we have two options: alphabetical order ooor..." He drew out the vowel and then paused for dramatic effect and Liz rolled her eyes and gave Michael a look as her father finished it off by saying, "Shipment number! Now, which do you prefer…?"

She gave her dad a smile as he seemed almost embarrassed when he saw that Michael was in the room.

"Michael," he said, putting down the pencil that he'd been waving dramatically as he'd spoken onto the clipboard in his hands. "So glad you could make it. Didn't expect you to be here, uh…"

"On time?" he supplied, and Mr. Parker shook his head.

"No. Early, actually. You're always on time for work, but early doesn't seem to be in your usual vocabulary."

Michael simply shrugged and moved to sit on one of the stools, putting his backpack on the counter, Liz following suit and sitting on the stool next to him, neither of them noticing Mr. Parker's narrowing gaze as he saw his daughter's knee lightly press against Michael's, the boy making a brief sign of noticing it, but doing nothing about it, turning his attention back to him.

"Yeah, well, it was an accident," Michael said, shrugging a second time. "I took my shower, got my dinner, and didn't have much else to do, so I grabbed my books…"

Liz gave him a look and a roll of her eyes at his words, so he corrected himself, while at the same time glaring at her.

"_Found_ my books, and decided to come on over. Promise I won't make it a habit."

Mr. Parker chuckled at that, and then walked over and put the clipboard in his hands on the counter and then explained what they were going to be doing for the next hour and a half or so, and Michael paid close attention, as he hadn't done it before and didn't want to mess it up. Plus, the sooner they got through this, the sooner he got to have his alone time with Liz.

"Okay, so here's the plan for the evening. We go through the inventory, either alphabetically or by shipment number. Shipment number tends to be a bit more scattered, as things in the Crash Down aren't put together according to shipment number, but it's more thorough. Alphabetically, however, tends to be easier to keep track of, though it might take a bit longer. And since you're the newcomer, Michael," he said, patting him on the shoulder, "Which will it be?"

He suddenly felt put on the spot, but finally managed to think it out and said, "Uh, shipment number. I need to learn about this stuff, anyway, right? Might as well start now."

Liz gave him a broad smile and her father let out a low groan.

"What? Did I say something wrong?"

Mr. Parker shook his head and quickly explained, "No. It's just that, without even knowing what you were doing, you have picked Liz's favorite way to go through inventory." He gave a nod towards his daughter and then added, "And it means she will get to have her little game for the evening."

"Game?"

Liz suddenly reached across the counter, stretching in front of Michael, and snagged the clipboard from in front of her dad and then sat on the edge of the counter, her eyes gleaming in a way that Michael had never seen before, but then a sly smile crossed her lips, and he had a feeling that he was about to find out just what made her eyes look that way.

"Okay!" she said, her voice sounding like an emcee's. "Our first number for the night is…" She looked down at the clipboard. "299317! I have 299317! You now have less than thirty seconds to find it! On my count; ready…set…go!"

And with that, her dad was scrambling behind the counter, looking at the boxes underneath, while Michael just looked confused.

She waited a few seconds and then looked down at her watch.

"You have fifteen seconds left!"

Suddenly, Mr. Parker yelled, "Aha!" and threw a box onto the counter, slightly out of breath, and Michael watched as Liz compared the number on the box to the number on the paper. After a moment, she looked up, a smile on her face.

"Congratulations! You've found the right box, and are exempt from the doing the dishes tomorrow night!"

At this, Michael became extremely confused and Liz, seeing the bewildered expression on his face, took pity on him and explained what was going on.

"When I first started working for my dad at the Crash Down, I _hated_ doing inventory, and I _really_ hated doing it by shipment number. My dad, knowing that I liked calling numbers for Bingo nights here at the Crash Down, came up with a game for the two of us. I call out the shipment number and he had less than thirty seconds to find the box. If he found the box, I had to do one of _his_ chores the following day, but if he _didn't_ find the box in time, then he had to do one of _my_ chores the following day," she finished, putting a hand on his arm and squeezing, not paying attention to what she was doing.

"But now that you're here," she added, "We're gonna have to change the rules a bit."

Michael thought about it for a second…and then came up with the perfect solution that had added bonuses for the both of them.

"I've got it," he said, turning to face her more fully. "If _I_ find the box, _you_ have to tutor me for one hour in the subject of my choice." She nodded at that, as did her dad. It seemed fair enough. And then he added, "If I _don't_ find the box, I have to give you one hour of my day for you to use as however you see fit."

At that, Liz nearly choked on her tongue.

Was he doing what she _thought_ he was doing? Either way, it meant that they got to spend time together…and he knew _exactly_ how she would use her time with him, and he knew that it would be advantageous to the _both_ of them.

Turning a bit more on his stool, he gave her a wink that her dad couldn't see and she simply swallowed, trying to fight the flush that she could feel rising in her face.

"Fine," she finally managed to say. "Fair enough."

"Great."

And with that, she started again, focusing far too intently on the paper in front of her, trying not to look Michael in the eye. She couldn't believe that he was doing this! And with her _dad_ around. She simply called out the numbers, not as enthusiastically as before, making notes in the margins of who would be doing chores and who would be tutoring who.

It only took them an hour, and as Liz finished making her final notes, she heard her dad say to Michael, "This went much faster with a third person. Care to help out with inventory more often?"

"Sure, why not," she heard Michael reply. "It's not like it's going to hurt me. Besides, this was actually kind of fun."

At that, she heard them both chuckle and she felt something warm settle in her chest. He was getting along with her dad. And that, for some inexplicable reason, made her ridiculously happy, and she felt a smile spread across her lips as she flipped the pages back on the clipboard.

She suddenly felt breath brush by her ear and a low voice say, "So, how many hours does it work out to?"

She tried to keep from stuttering as she responded.

"Uh, well, first off, I have to do dishes, vacuum the back room, and polish the, uh…the counters for dad for, uh, the next three days. Dad has to green, I mean, _clean_, the bathroom for the next four days." She didn't have to look to know that Michael was smiling because he could hear her nervousness. "And for us…" She made a show of looking intently over the numbers, even though they were already engrained in her head. "I have to tutor you for twelve hours, and you have to hang out with me for, uh, five."

"Sounds good to me," he said, pulling back, sharing a smile with her dad. "Too bad about bathroom duty, Mr. Parker."

He shrugged.

"Hey, because you were here, I don't have nearly as much to do as I used to. So, as I said before, you're welcome to come by more often," he said, giving the young man a smile, which Michael returned, and a pat on the shoulder.

Liz rolled her eyes and handed the clipboard to her dad and then turned to leave, but was stopped by her dad saying, "Liz?" She turned and saw Michael hoist his backpack from the counter and onto his shoulder. Her dad gestured to him and said, "Studying?"

She suddenly remembered the story that Michael had told her dad, and she quickly tried to recover.

"Yeah, right. Sorry, guess it just slipped my mind. Uh…" She faltered for a moment and then looked towards her dad, knowing that she'd need his permission for what she was about to ask. "Is it okay if we study out on the balcony, dad?"

He nodded.

"Sure, so long as you keep the window open. You know the rules," he added, giving her a pointed look.

She nodded.

"Yeah, I know the rules." She gestured to Michael. "C'mon, Guerin. You need all the help you can get."

She heard him say, "Hey!" as she walked through the door, letting it swing into him, and then quickly went upstairs, heading straight to her room to open the window. She didn't want him to linger any longer in her bedroom than he had to. It gave her too many…_ideas_.

She turned and grabbed her bag, just in time to see Michael enter her room. He looked around and she avoided his gaze, tucking a strand of hair over her ear and focused instead on grabbing one of her notebooks that she'd taken out of her bag when she'd gotten home from school the day before. She was going to need it in order to help Michael with his studying. In fact, she needed to look over it as well. Until Michael had reminded her, she had completely forgotten about the test.

"Nice room," he said, and she tossed back, "Thanks," and then stepped through the window. After a moment, he followed.

He took a look at the balcony and then looked over at her.

"Liz…"

She looked up.

"I've been in your room before, you know. And by the way," he added as he brushed by her to sit down on one of the lounge chairs. "You _still_ haven't changed your window locks."

At that, she blushed and said nothing, instead pulling out her textbook and her second notebook filled with notes. She kept one for her own personal theories and another filled with the notes directly from the textbook and the teacher.

He just grinned, and then pulled out his own notebook.

* * *

**Part 8/?**


	9. Chapter 9

**9**

Liz finally sat down and gave her study partner a look.

"Okay, Guerin. Let's find out what you already know and then we can work from there, alright?" He nodded, and then was surprised when she added, almost under her breath, "And then you can help _me_ study the stuff that _I'm_ not so sure on."

He leaned over the edge of his chair so that he was closer to her and said, "Do my ears deceive me? Did Parker, the infamous science geek, just say that she needed _help?_"

She looked up at him and glared.

"Don't _make_ me repeat myself, _Guerin,_" she growled out and his mocking look softened as he leaned in and brushed back the strand of hair that had worked its' way loose once more as she had snapped her gaze back up to his.

"I wouldn't dream of it, Liz," he said softly and she could hear the affection in his words…and the fact that he'd said her first name.

Her glare softened and she lifted her hand and pressed it over his, glad that he wasn't nearly as easily offended by her somewhat stubborn nature. Max had never known how to deal with her when she acted that way, but Michael had handled it effortlessly.

He then leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to her temple and she let out a small sigh. It was nice to feel such affection.

"Thanks, Michael. Sorry…I just…well…"

"Don't take well to being teased?"

She nodded and he smiled and said, "Don't worry about it. Now, let's get down to studying. I kinda really do need to study, Liz."

Letting out a small laugh, she gave him a broad smile and they both pulled back to their original positions and began to actually study. Liz was surprised to find out that he actually knew nearly as much as she did and that they were both unsure of the same things. And as they quizzed each other back and forth, she was even more surprised to discover that he was just about one of the best study partners that she'd ever had. He knew exactly how to push her without irritating her, something that Max had never been able to do, and he managed to give her weird and obtuse hints that she somehow understood.

All too soon, she looked at her watch and saw that it was nearly ten o'clock.

She looked over at him and smiled when she saw him let out a yawn, bringing his hand up to try and hide it.

"Tired?"

He looked up at her and shook his head.

"Nope. C'mon, just a few more terms to go and I'll be more than ready for this test. I'm just fi…ine," he said, the last word split by yet another yawn, and Liz just shook her head, trying not to smile at how adorable he looked when he was tired.

"Michael…seriously. You're tired. _I'm_ tired. Let's call it a night, okay? I think we've studied enough for one evening."

Without even a protest, he flipped his notebook closed and leaned back in the chaise, raising his hands to his face and let out a long sigh, to which Liz immediately responded by doing something that simply felt instinctual, and got up from her chair and walked over to his and straddled his legs, drawing his hands into hers.

He looked at her in shock and she simply smiled.

"What…what are you doing…?"

She smiled again.

"What feels right."

And with that, she used her grip on his hands to draw herself forward and place a soft kiss on his lips. She started to draw away, but using their connection, he pulled her back to him, throwing her slightly off balance, and deepened the kiss, determined to kiss her the way that he had on their first night.

Liz didn't bother to expend any effort to resist.

He gently broke his hands from their grip and slid them to her sides, holding her firm against him, amazed that she was in his arms, still unable to fully wrap his mind around it, even though his hands seemed to wrap around the issue quite nicely. She was more than he could have ever hoped for.

Liz was melting, dissolving into his kiss, and when she pulled back for a breath, he traced his tongue along her lower lip and then quickly slid it inside, causing her to moan at the heat that flared between them, her nerves tingling with every touch of his body against hers, with every swipe of his tongue along her palate. In the back of her mind, she knew that it was simply a chemical reaction, serotonin firing and signaling her adrenal and hormone glands to respond…but in the front of her mind was one thought. _More._

One of his hands slid beneath her shirt and she broke away from the kiss with a gasp, shocked at the feel of his warm hand against her bare skin. She pressed herself against him, loving how firm and strong he felt, even through the layer of his shirt, which she suddenly wished was no longer in the way.

And then the flashes came.

_Michael, watching her during work, unable to stop from admiring her legs which were shown in enticing increments as she leaned over to help Maria pick up a dropped tray of leftover food. As he stared, her skirt hiked up just enough so that he saw a glimpse of her panties…royal blue lace. He was suddenly glad he was behind a counter as he felt a part of him surge to attention._

Liz gasped at the memory, feeling the lust from him in a wave of pure pleasurable heat that rippled through her body, settling between her legs, and then dove back into the kiss, sliding one of her own hands under his shirt, marveling at the play of muscles beneath her fingertips, wondering what it might be like to have his weight over her, all of him filling her senses. Michael felt her arching into him, and he reveled in it, and then there was a burst of light behind his eyelids…

_Liz couldn't help but notice him as he stripped off his shirt in the back room before reaching into his locker and grabbing a clean shirt. He was pure male, through and through, and she couldn't help but long to run her eyes over his broad, bare back and long to run her fingers over those shoulders and up into his hair…and run her tongue along his neck._

And now it was his turn to gasp in surprise, as he, too, felt the same sensation.

"God…Liz…"

She just shook her head and then realized what a compromising position they were in.

"Michael…Michael, we…we have to stop…"

His hand slowly came down from under her shirt and then slid back over top of it, smoothing it down, and she slowly pulled back and sat on her heels, still trying to catch her breath. God. With him she simply had no control. What had started out as a brief kiss had quickly spiraled into something much more dangerous and out of control.

He overwhelmed her, and now she knew that she would have to control herself when around him.

"Yeah," he said, sounding as out of breath as she felt. "You're right…it's just…I mean, Liz…did you _feel_ that?"

She nodded and gently grasped his right hand in her left.

"Yeah, I felt it. We…we're just going to have to be really careful about this, okay? I mean, if my dad had decided to come up and check up on us…god, he'd never trust me again!" She slowly pulled the rest of the way back and moved back over to her own chair and ran her hands through her hair. "I just…well, you kinda make me lose control, Michael."

He looked at her from where he was still leaned back in the chair and said, with a sarcastic grin on his face, "Gee, you think so, Parker?"

She let out a small laugh.

"Yeah, well…I don't think you were faring any better than I was, Guerin."

He looked at the wry smile on her lips and wanted nothing more than to lean in and capture them once more, but he withheld the impulse and instead took a moment to regroup himself. The things that she did to him…it was enough to drive any alien wild. After a moment, however, he found himself mostly settled and went for his books spread out on the table, and started to put them back into his backpack.

Liz watched as Michael got his stuff back together and as soon as he stood up, she got up and went to follow him.

He gave her a look, to which she replied, "My dad would be upset if I didn't show you out. Besides, he's a pretty smart guy and would figure out that something was up."

Michael nodded.

"Fair enough."

So with that, she followed him back through her window and back down the stairs. When they walked past the office, her dad waved goodbye to Michael and gave an approving nod to his daughter, to which she breathed a sigh of relief.

Good. He hadn't noticed anything out of place.

When they reached the back door, Michael was just about to leave when he paused in the doorway and turned to her and said, "We're still meeting tomorrow morning, right?"

She rolled her eyes.

"Unless my dad suddenly fired you from being the cook in the last five hours that I am unaware of, then _yes_, we are still meeting tomorrow morning." And then she had a flash of inspiration and repeated the words that she'd said to him the night before. "I _better_ see you, Guerin…you have a job to get to in the morning, and if you're not there, you _will_ be out of a job."

He grinned and started to lean in, but stopped himself in time.

"Yeah, see you in the morning."

And with that, he left. And then she had to use all of effort to turn around as quickly as possible, so as not to give her dad any suspicions. She stopped by the office in the back before she went back up the stairs and said, "Thanks for letting us have the study session, dad. I'm going to bed, okay?"

He nodded, glancing at her over the top of his glasses.

"Okay, sleep well, sweet pea."

"Will do, dad."

And with that, she went upstairs and got ready for bed. As she slid her hands under her shirt to slide it over her head, she shivered, remembering the feel of Michael's hand on her skin.

Quickly, she got out of her clothes and into her pajamas. As she slipped under the covers she thought about all that had happened in just twenty-four hours, and felt her mind start to swim with all of the emotions that were involved. With Max she felt lots of intense emotions, but it was nothing but extremes with him. With Michael, however, there was intensity along with something much more tempered, more balanced, and it felt wonderfully right. As though she'd discovered where she finally belonged.

She let out a sigh as she fell asleep, the image of whiskey colored eyes in her head.

* * *

**Part 9/?**


	10. Chapter 10

**10**

The next morning, Liz felt a strange sensation as she picked out her clothes for the day. She knew now, after seeing Michael's memories, that he paid attention to what she wore. Even to what she wore, uh, underneath, and it filled her with a feeling that she couldn't understand.

With that in mind, she carefully picked out her clothes.

Normally, she would wear plain underwear, nothing fancy, and the day that he'd caught her wearing…_those_…she'd had virtually nothing left in her underwear drawer, forcing her to wear them. They tended to ride up uncomfortably throughout the day, but as she thought of Michael she decided to make an exception. Feeling more bold than usual, she pulled out a special matching set that she had bought while on girl's day out with Isabel when Maria had been sick.

It was a royal blue lacey number that covered, but still left little to the imagination.

She quickly slid the lacey piece up over her hips and then slipped the wireless matching bra over her head. It was more comfortable than the bottoms by a long shot.

As she glanced through her closet, she found the perfect top. A light gray blouse that was just _barely_ too low cut, and would most certainly allow tantalizing glimpses of the lace. She then found herself torn between a pair of snug jeans that she rarely wore and a skirt that was perfectly modest, but was made out of a light enough fabric that if caught in a cross draft, just might show more than it should. In the end, the jeans and practicality won out, and she pulled them on along with her usual shoes.

Because it was a Sunday morning, her father didn't make her wear the uniform, so she walked straight down into the Crash Down and began to set up for opening.

About an hour before they were to open, which was about two hours after she had arrived downstairs, Michael walked in, looking as devastatingly gorgeous as ever by simply wearing jeans and another on of his snug t-shirts. This one was gray.

"Hey, you," she said as a greeting, and he smiled.

"Hey, you."

Her dad wasn't out yet from the back office, so they shared a quick kiss, not noticing or hearing the front door open.

"Geez!" said a familiar voice, snapping them both out of their moment, and a look of shock appeared on Liz's face, but a look of irritation appeared on Michael's as he saw who it was. This was _not_ something that he had expected, but somewhere in the back of his mind it wasn't too surprising, and, amazingly enough, he trusted him not to say anything.

"Do you have to do that _here?_ I mean, I doubt that you've told your dad, yet," Kyle added, as he sidled past them into the diner.

They quickly pulled apart, Liz staring determinedly at the floor, her cheeks flushing red, and Michael now glaring.

"Maybe she has, maybe she hasn't. I don't see how it's your problem, Dwarf-boy."

Kyle just shrugged, not really caring, and sat down at the counter, looking over his shoulder at the two of them, and then turned on the stool to face the both of them, his eyes going hard, and when Liz looked up she recognized that look, along with Michael. He was being serious.

An uncomfortable silence settled between the three of them and Liz silently prayed that her dad didn't come out. And then Kyle spoke.

"Look," he started, his blue eyes not as hard or as cold as they had been a few moments before. "Honest to Buddha, this doesn't bother me and I wish you all the happiness in the world…but have you even _thought_ about how everyone else is going to take this?"

Liz tightened her jaw and said nothing.

Michael, however, immediately jumped in, defending their actions.

"Believe it or not, _Kyle_, we actually have, which is why we were going to wait a few days to make sure that we went about this best way. Now," he added, cutting off the comment that he could see rising on the other young man's lips, "Number one, this is not a passing fling. I care for Liz more than anything I ever have in my life…more than my _own_ life, even."

Liz looked over at him at that, not quite believing what he had just said, and he continued.

"Number two, the only people I could ever even _imagine_ taking this well, would be you, Alex, and Isabel, and the other three are simply going to have to deal with it, because I'm not letting her go. And whatever happens to the group because of that, well…we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. And number three…how the hell did you just walk in here? We're not even open!"

Kyle just shot him one of his signature smug grins, perfected from years of being on top of the high school totem pole.

"Oh, well, it seemed that you forgot to lock the door behind you, _Guerin_, when you walked in." And with that, he swiveled on the stool and faced the counter once more, and then added, "Oh, and by the way, you can buy my silence for sure if I get one of your bacon, egg, and cheese melts on and English muffin. With grilled tomatoes on the side."

Michael stared at his back, incredulous that Kyle was attempting to blackmail him.

He was about to let out a stinging retort, when he felt a hand on his arm. He looked down and saw Liz shake her head at him.

"Just do it, Michael. I mean, he'll keep our secret anyway, but at least this way we stay on his good side. I'd like to be on his good side, for once. He's _really_ not that bad once you get to know him…"

"C'mon, Goliath!"

She could see that he was about ready to yell at him, so she quickly acted and leaned up and pressed a kiss to his lips and then said, "Ignore him. You know he does that to provoke you. If you don't react, he'll have nothing to work with and he'll give up, alright?"

He let out a sigh, and she knew that she had won.

"Fine. I'll make him his stupid bacon, egg, and cheese melt on an English muffin. With stupid grilled tomatoes on the side."

It was more growled out than anything else but she ignored it, pleased to see that he was at least going to try. For her. She moved away from him, unaware of the fact that her jeans had slid down slightly on her waist and he caught a glimpse of something blue and lace.

Good god…was she even aware of what she was doing to him?

She then sat on the stool next to Kyle, chatting about some movie that he didn't know, and her jeans slid down a bit further…and _his_ jeans got tighter.

It was a thong.

His body now hard and aching, he quickly stepped into the kitchen and began to viciously pull out ingredients and utensils, trying to focus his energies on something else. As he slammed around the kitchen, he suddenly felt his powers flare and heard a mason jar full of pickles shatter.

At the sound, both Liz and Kyle's eyes snapped to the kitchen.

"Sorry…sorry! It was nothing," he said, a muscle in his jaw twitching like mad.

Without thinking about what he was doing, he absently flicked his fingers in the direction of the broken pieces of glass on the floor and didn't even think about the fact that it was suddenly whole again, as though it hadn't ever been broken. The pickles, however, were another story. He knelt down and looked at them, wondering what to do, when he then heard, "What was that? Is everything alright?" and he looked up to see Mr. Parker standing in the doorway that led from the kitchen to the back room.

"Michael…are you okay? What happened?"

That's right. He'd forgotten that her dad was in the office…that was right behind the kitchen.

"Nothing Mr. Parker. I just broke shipment number 315221. Guess we'll have to mark that one down," he said with a wry grin, making sure to stay crouched in front of the already put back together jar, knowing that there was no way to explain it. "I'll clean it up."

"Let me help you, Michael…it's dangerous to clean up glass."

He had to stop him.

Quickly, he said, "It's okay, Mr. Parker. I've broken my share of glasses at home, I know how to clean it up properly, it'll get cleared up. Promise."

He then flashed him his most honest smile, which, at the moment, wasn't particularly honest, but he needn't have worried, because as soon as said the magic word, he let up slightly and began to back away from the door, though his eyes were still wary.

"If you're sure?"

"I'm sure."

He gave him another long look…and then nodded, and disappeared back into his office. And he let out a sigh of relief. That had been close. Too close for comfort.

He shook himself and reached up and grabbed a few paper towels and mopped up the pickle juice and then grabbed the pickles from off the floor. When he stood and held them in his hands, he thought briefly about putting them into Kyle's eggs…but then he looked out and saw Liz laughing at something that the jock had said and let out a sigh. Or not. God, what was that girl doing to him? Two nights ago he would have pulled this prank in heartbeat, but now he couldn't do it because he knew it would make her unhappy?

It had never been like that with Maria, he thought to himself as he worked on Kyle's blackmail breakfast. He had always just sort of done what he wanted, unless Isabel had interfered in some way, of course, but with Liz it was like…it was like the idea of her being unhappy in any way, any way at all, simply devastated him.

And he knew that if anything ever happened that made her happier to be without him…then he would let it happen.

He shook his head free from the thoughts and focused on finishing grilling the tomatoes; he was determined to make the best damn breakfast that Kyle Valenti had ever tasted, and leave him bereft of his cooking forevermore afterwards. That would be punishment enough for what he was doing to him.

Soon, he was finished, and he stepped out of the kitchen with his towel slung over his shoulder, his head held high.

He slid the plate in front of the junior Valenti and then slapped the cloth down on the counter.

"I can tell you right now, Valenti, that you will never again taste a breakfast as good as mine."

Kyle just nodded, and dug right into the food, and then, after taking several big bites, he said with a mouth full of food, "Yes, I think you're right," and then continued to chew, leaving Michael feeling slightly nauseous at seeing his food being so mindlessly consumed by the seventeen year old in front of him.

Liz flashed Michael a grin and then leaned across the counter.

"Do I get anything?"

Kyle immediately recognized the tone in her voice and looked apprehensively between the two of them, quickly swallowing his mouthful and wiping his face with his napkin.

"Oh, no…just because I know about the two of you doesn't mean that you two can just mack it out whenever you…!"

Michael ignored his protestations and leaned in and gave Liz a lingering kiss on her lips, pulling back only when he heard Kyle say, "Uh, guys, not to be an alarmist, but if you haven't told Mr. Parker about this recent development, I'd stop right now."

They immediately pulled apart, and Michael knelt down behind the counter as though he were looking for something and Liz picked up on what he was trying to do and stayed in her position, leaning on the counter, and said, "They should be down there, Michael. I mean, you did inventory last night, remember?", just as her dad walked onto the floor.

Michael glared up at her.

"Found them," he said, and stood up as he pulled out a box of napkins.

Mr. Parker nodded at Liz and Michael…and then his eyes landed on Kyle.

"Kyle? What are you doing here? And with what looks like Michael's cooking in front of you?"

Before either Liz or Michael could explain, Kyle said, "Oh, Michael promised me one of his bacon, egg, and cheese melts a while back and I happened to be out early this morning, doing my usual Sunday morning nature walk, and saw that they were already here. I, uh, hope you don't mind."

Mr. Parker looked surprised at first, but then a smile appeared on his face.

"No…it's not a problem at all, Kyle. Glad to see you two finally getting along," he added, pointing at him and Michael.

As soon as he had walked by them, Michael looked over at the Valenti boy and muttered under his breath, "Thanks," and then saw Liz smile when he did, which made it worth the embarrassment of having to be saved by the sheriff's son.

Her smile made it all worth it.

* * *

**Part 10/?**


	11. Chapter 11

**11**

Liz groaned as she looked over at the clock, trying to ease the pain in her feet and the throbbing in her head. Sunday wasn't usually this busy, but for some reason unknown to her, it seemed that the whole of Roswell had decided to come to town…along with a tour bus of geriatrics from Boston. Old voices combined with a Boston accent…well, let's just say that she'd never messed up so many orders before in one day.

Through the haze of tiredness in her eyes, she could see that it was nearing nine o'clock. Closing time.

Never before had those two words sounded so inviting.

She walked behind the counter and headed to the kitchen with what she hoped was the right order, rubbing her fingers against her temple, trying to ease the headache that she was now fairly sure was a migraine.

"Supersonic scramble with extra peppers, extra onions, extra cheese and Pluto Potatoes on the side," she managed to groan out as she placed the piece of paper on the rotating…metal…thing, whose name escaped her at that moment.

Michael gave her a look over the grill.

"Tired?"

She glared at him as best she could, but it turned into a grimace as a sharp stab of pain lanced through her skull. At the same time she tried to ease the ache of her ankles in shoes which had been perfectly comfortable only eight hours before, but now seemed to be intent on killing her feet in the most painful way possible.

"Shut it, Guerin, and just make the damn order."

Luckily, he was smart enough to pick up on her mood, and merely slid another order over the counter and gave her a faint, worn smile, which she valiantly tried to return, but was pretty sure failed on its attempted trip to her facial muscles.

"Order for table six," he softly said, and she picked it up and walked over to the table, luckily with all of the correct orders.

She looked back at Michael again and realized just how well he had been taking her mood for the past three hours. The first five hadn't been too bad, but after accidentally spilling a tray of iced tea all over the two sets of geriatric couples who had been, uhm, _canoodling_ in one of the corner booths, and then being chewed out by an eighty-five year old woman who knew more bad language than she should, Liz had given up being positive and had become downright miserable.

She marveled at how easily he seemed to be able to handle her moods. Max had always pestered her constantly about what was wrong and tried to _fix_ her, but Michael seemed to know that what she needed most at that moment was space. And for that she was eternally grateful. It was nice to not have someone hovering over her whenever she felt out of sorts. But it wasn't just the fact that she felt physically miserable. In fact there were two _other_ factors also contributing to her horrid mood.

The first one, of course, was the fact that the two of them hadn't been able to talk about what they were going to say to the rest of the group.

And the second one, in predictable order, was the fact that Maria had _also_ come in about three hours ago, right after the iced tea fiasco, and had been trying to flirt with Michael every chance that she could get while she was working her evening shift.

He kept on brushing her off, which was reassuring to Liz, but she could tell by the look in her friend's eye that the DeLuca girl was not in any way swayed or deterred from her target.

Liz suddenly saw her chance as the new girl came out on the floor, Elise, she thought her name was called, and she rushed over to her and said, "Do you think that you could cover me for a few minutes? I've got a killer headache, which I'm pretty sure is actually a migraine, and I just need…"

"Say no more. I've got you covered. Oh," the hazel-eyed, five-foot-three brunette added as she was about to head to the table that Liz had just left. "I've got some Excedrin in my purse on the counter back there. Take some if you need it, okay?"

Liz nodded and escaped to the back room, throwing herself down on the couch, hearing, once more, Maria trying to get Michael to take her out.

"Look, tonight's the last night of the weekend, and if you want to have a _really_ good time, you'll take me someplace fun, preferably with a boho vibe where I can test drive my new skirt and shoes, as well as a few other purchases. Capiché?"

From the corner of her eye, she saw Michael throw down the towel from his shoulder, obviously exasperated with her.

"Look, I don't know what it's going to take for you to leave me alone, Maria. I've tried being nice about it, but you don't seem to get it! I am busy for every night for the rest of my life so long as you're the one asking me, no matter _how_ many times you ask me. Conversation. Over." He shoved an order towards her. "Now take the damn order to table ten!"

The girl simply rolled her eyes and strolled away, the tray precariously balanced on her already less than balanced hands.

Liz groaned, and rolled her head back, so that she was staring at the back of the couch, determined to ignore the fact that her best friend was inadvertently attempting to ruin only the best thing that had ever happened to her in her life. She then remembered that Elise had mentioned that she had some Excedrin. She slowly sat up and found a black leather purse right next to the couch on the table, and she sighed in relief when her fingers wrapped around a familiar, small green bottle.

Quickly, she popped two of them in her mouth and swallowed, ignoring the bitter aftertaste, and then laid back down.

She didn't know how long she lay there, but when she heard a fuming Maria coming into the room, she tried not to groan out loud at being interrupted from what had been a fairly quiet and peaceful break from the diner.

"God! I just don't know what's _wrong_ with him this time. I mean, we've done this weird dance, like, a million times before! He does something stupid, so I accuse him of something hurtful, and so we break it off for a couple of weeks. And then, after I convince him to take me out again, we're back on again! What is _wrong_ with him?"

Liz bit her tongue, knowing that to say anything could reveal too much simply by accident.

But as Maria continued to rant, she finally snapped, "Maria! Just…stop? Okay? I'm kinda nursing a migraine here, and this isn't really helping…"

She actually looked contrite and lowered her voice, sounding sincerely apologetic.

"Oh, god, Liz…I'm so sorry! Why didn't you just head me off at the pass, sweetie? You _know_ how I am once I get started…"

Liz just nodded and lay back down on the worn out sofa cushions, praying that they would give her some relief. Just at things were quieting down in her head once more, the back door flung open to reveal a haggard looking Max.

"Hey, is Michael here? I need to talk to him. Now."

The tone in his voice was one that both of the girls recognized. It was his panic voice; the one that meant that something alien was happening and it wasn't good.

"Yeah," Maria said, rising from the chair that she had been sitting in. "I'll get him. Liz has a migraine right now, so keep it down when you two are talking, okay?"

He nodded and then looked over at his ex-girlfriend, a worried expression on his face as he saw her lying down on the couch, obviously in some significant pain, and he stepped towards her, and she knew exactly what he was thinking.

"Liz? Are you okay? Do you want me to…?"

She lifted her hand.

"No. Just…just let me deal with it the human way, alright?"

He nodded, and then turned his attention away as Maria came back through the kitchen door with Michael in tow, who looked slightly pissed at being interrupted during his shift. There were orders that he needed to finish, after all, and they had some impatient customers out there.

However, as soon as he saw Liz lying prone on the couch he went to her side, seemingly forgetting about the fact that Maria and Max were in the room.

"Liz? What's wrong? What happened?"

She shook her head and then gave him a pointed look and said in a certain tone of voice, "It's just a migraine, Michael. Nothing serious. Just let me get some peace and quiet and I should be fine. I already took some Excedrin and, like I _said_, I should be _fine_." She tilted her head towards Max and Maria, who were staring, and he quickly stood back up.

"Yeah, okay. Just wanted to make sure that we weren't losing our second best waitress out there," he covered, and Maria preened, obviously thinking that he was implying that she was the best.

"Why thank you, Mich-"

He cut her off.

"I was talking about Elise, Maria. Not you. Get over it and drop it. And get back out on the floor, she can't do three jobs at once." He looked at Max, ignoring the look of anger crossing the girl's face at his insensitive words. "Outside, alright? Let's do this quick; I've some orders still waiting to be cooked."

Max nodded, and the two of them went out the back door, leaving the girls in the back room alone.

Maria looked as though she was about to start ranting again, so Liz quickly reacted and put her hand up in the air like she had earlier and said, "Maria, just let it go. Now's not the time to get into it with him or anyone else, for that matter…and besides, Michael's right about one thing; Elise needs help out there, so give her a hand, will you?"

She said it as nicely as she could and saw her friend's stance ease up slightly and the blonde nodded.

"Yeah, fine…but he and I are having a _serious_ talk later about this. Does he think he can treat me this way and not suffer any consequences?" she muttered under her breath as she stepped back out onto the floor, the door swinging behind her as she walked out of the back room.

* * *

**Part 11/?**


	12. Chapter 12

**12**

Liz just leaned back on the couch, grateful for the silence that fell over the back room. As she closed her eyes she felt herself slowly start to slip into a semi-conscious state. Even if her dad walked back here, she knew that he would let her rest. She had started getting migraines when she was fourteen, and he knew that when she had one to simply let her take care of it on her own and keep his distance. She got snippy and biting when she was in pain, and both of her parents had learned early on to avoid her when she was in such a state.

However, as she drifted between wakefulness and sleep, she slowly became aware of the fact that she could hear Max and Michael's voices just beyond the back wall…

"_Did you really pull me off of my shift to tell me that you have a _feeling_ that something's wrong, Max? Because, if so, I will hit you right now,"_ she heard Michael say and a small smile crossed her lips, knowing just how annoyed he must be, practically seeing the expression that she was sure was on his face at that exact moment.

"_It isn't just a feeling, Michael…I think…I think that I've found proof that we weren't the only ones sent back. That there were others sent back with us in that ship; other members of the royal family."_

There was a long pause, and then… _"How can you be sure?"_

"_Well, I decided that we needed someone who was a bit of a, well, a nerd, to take a look at the ship and see how it worked, so I took Alex out to the ship and he found another hidden compartment, but instead of pods he found what he said looked like, well, uh…"_

"_Just spit it out, Max."_

"_Uh…insemination equipment."_

There was an even longer pause, and Liz, even through her migraine induced haze, managed to come to a startling conclusion. The four of them were born in the pods…and the rest of whoever had been sent with them, had been born on earth. To human parents.

She then heard Michael say, _"That means that there could be more of us, but we wouldn't be able to tell because they were born right here on planet earth to normal, human parents, who had no idea that their children weren't entirely human?"_

"_Uh…yeah, that's pretty much what Alex said, but in longer words."_

She heard Michael let out a long sigh, and she knew that he was most likely running his hands through his hair, trying to wrap his mind around what he had just heard.

"_This is big news, Maxwell. We should have a proper meeting to talk about this. How about on Thursday? I know Is and you guys have your family game night on Wednesday night, and Kyle's most likely going to be busy at the shop until Thursday, so we'll just have to wait until then, because Monday or Tuesday will be too soon for any of us."_

"_How do you know Kyle's going to be busy at the shop for the next few nights?"_

"_Uh, well…" _She could hear the slightly embarrassed tone in his voice as he answered the question. _"We've, uh, sorta become better acquaintances recently, _not_ by choice, and we started talking about cars and motorcycles and his work managed to come up in the conversation…but does that really matter right now? Thursday, here at the Crash Down, say around nine?"_

"_Yeah, I'll tell Is, Tess, and Alex, so long as you tell Maria, Liz, and Kyle."_

"_Deal."_

And with that, she heard him walk back to the door and step back inside the back room. His footsteps were light, and when he closed the back door she could tell that he was doing everything he could to make sure that he was being as quiet as possible.

She spoke up from the couch, surprising him.

"Michael, I'm not made of glass and most of the migraine is gone," she added, trying to ease his worry, which she knew had not left him. "The pills helped, as did the peace and quiet…"

He let out a sigh of relief and walked over to her, casting a glance behind him to make sure no one was watching, and then sat down on the floor so that he could look her directly in the eye to make sure that she wasn't lying to him.

"You sure?"

She nodded, and he reached out his hand and rubbed his thumb over her jaw and then said, "How about we tell them on Thursday about us…does that sound good to you?"

Without thinking about what she was saying, she said, "You mean at the meeting? Don't you think they'll have enough of a shock knowing that there are more aliens out there to find? I would think that the fact that the two of us are a couple just might break their poor little minds," she added jokingly.

He looked at her in shock.

"How…how do you know that? Max only…I mean, he _just_ told me this! How do you _know_ that, Liz?"

She suddenly realized that she'd tipped her hand and relented.

"I, well, I heard you two through the wall. The whole conversation, actually…"

Michael still stared at her, incredulous, and then pointed to the wall that she'd mentioned and said, "This wall?" She nodded. "You mean," he continued, slowly standing and putting his hand against it, "The-wall-that's-made-out-of-solid-brick-and-is-six-inches-thick wall?"

Liz nodded again, and then saw his pointed look. She rolled her eyes slightly, feeling slightly stupid for not being circumspect about the strange occurrence, for which she blamed the migraine for impeding her judgment, and then explained what had happened.

"Yeah, I know it's crazy, but I could hear you as if you were standing in the room. My migraine was killing me, and then, out of nowhere, I could hear your voice…and then the migraine just sort of, I don't know, faded away, until all I heard was the two of you talking. I mean," she quickly corrected herself, "It was still _there_, but it was like someone had lowered it to the lowest volume so that I could hear the two of you…it was kind of odd, actually, now that I think about it…"

He just nodded and let out a small sound of what sounded like laughter.

"Gee, you think?"

She rolled her eyes at him a second time and said, "Don't you have food to fry, Guerin?"

He stopped chuckling and then briefly reached down and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, neither of them noticing her father stopping on the stairs and staring at the sight before him. She reached up and touched his hand as he said, "Yeah, I do, Parker…but we'll talk later, okay, Liz?"

She smiled.

"Count on it," she replied, and placed a quick kiss on his hand and then stared at him as he walked back to the kitchen, and through the door she could hear Maria yelling at him once more.

Mr. Parker finally descended the last few steps down the stairs and said loud enough for her to hear, "So, sweetie…what was that about?"

His daughter's eyes snapped up to him, and she sat straight up on the couch, briefly grasping her head and then looked at her dad with wide eyes, obviously trying to feign innocence, and said, "What do you mean, dad? Michael was just checking up on me. Migraine, you know," she added, pointing to her head.

He just nodded, a wry and amused smile appearing on his mouth.

"Liz…just because I'm not around every single second, doesn't mean that I don't know something's going on between the two of you. I know you two are, uh, _involved_ somehow. And I only have three questions that I need to ask you."

He sat down next to her and she avoided his gaze, but he ignored it and gently placed his hand on her knee.

"One, does he make you happy? And," he rapidly added, not wanting her to answer too quickly, "I mean _happy_ happy. Like, if you knew he would be happier being with someone else, would you be willing to let him go?"

She didn't say anything for a moment, but then looked up at her dad and nodded.

"Yeah. He makes me _happy_ happy."

"Alright, then question number two: does Maria know?"

Her eyes dropped again and he knew exactly what that meant, which lead him to his third question. He gently put his hand under her chin and brought her eyes back up to his and asked, "Third and final question, sweet pea…is he worth it?"

She knew exactly what her dad meant by the question. Was he worth risking the one friendship that had seen her through thick and thin, from everything as simple as picking out a dress to something as complicated as deciding what college to go to? Was he worth the risk of possibly losing the trust of several other friends along the way? And as she thought about it, she knew what the answer was, and she stared her dad firmly in the eye as she answered him.

"Yes."

That was all he needed to hear. He gently put his arm around her shoulders and said, "You go on upstairs and get some rest, I'll help with the rest of the shift down here. Who's covering you out on the floor, by the way?"

"Elise is."

He gave her a nod.

"Good. She's one of the best servers we have. Now," he said, patting his free hand on her knee, "Go get some sleep. You may claim that the migraine is gone, but I know that look. It's starting to come back again, isn't it?"

She shrugged and then gave a faint nod.

"Yeah, kinda."

"Okay, then," he said, helping her up to her feet and over to the stairs. "Shower, medicine, then bed. Got it?"

She nodded and gave him a mock salute.

"Got it, captain."

He chuckled and watched as his daughter ascended the stairs, seeing in her body that she was more than tired and that the migraine was taking its' toll on her. As she disappeared around the corner he let out a soft sigh and then turned to go out on the floor, grabbing an ordering pad from the supplies on the shelf.

He glanced back at Michael as he started to cover some of the back tables and was pleased with what he saw. His daughter had a good head on her shoulders, and if he had to choose between the Guerin boy and the Evans boy, it was an easy choice for him to make. Michael Guerin had a steady head on his shoulders and it was obvious to him from what he had briefly seen earlier that he cared for her and worried about her.

He turned back to the tables, a small smile on the corner of his mouth.

Yes. He approved.

* * *

**Part 12/?**


	13. Chapter 13

**13**

As Liz walked between her classes the next day, she felt remarkably well-rested. Her dad had been right. A shower, a couple more pills, and good long sleep was all that she'd really needed to shake off the migraine that had been tormenting her.

She approached her locker and smiled as Alex bounded over and leaned against the lockers next to hers.

"Hey, Liz! How was your weekend?"

She tilted her head to the side and pretended to give it some deep thought.

"Let me see…had to do inventory on Saturday night, followed up by a study session with Michael, which was then followed up on Sunday with the work day from hell, topped off with the migraine that would never end. That about covers it. You?"

He chuckled at the tone of her voice and gave her a slightly commiserating look and said, "Better than yours. Sorry your weekend was so bad. Anything I can do to cheer you up?"

She shook her head and flashed him a reassuring smile, briefly realizing that even with everything that had happened, the time that she'd been able to spend with Michael had more than made up for all of the negatives…which was rather impressive, considering all of the negative things that _had_ happened. But she'd never tell _him_ that, of course, because she knew that it would only go straight to his head and give him too many ideas.

"Nothing a little ice cream can't fix," she said, trading out some of the books in her bag for some in her locker. "And I've got a carton of French Vanilla waiting for me in the freezer at home when I get home tonight, along with some caramel."

She was suddenly startled when a familiar voice came up on her other side and said, "Did you say ice cream?"

Liz slammed her locker door closed and glared at the blonde, who stood on her right hand side with a ridiculously wide smile plastered on her lips, looking all too excited about being in school on a Monday. And it was especially weird because it was Maria DeLuca who was happy to be at school.

"Maria. Don't. Do. That. Again," she said, punctuating each word. "Ev-er."

She looked back over at Alex and asked, "And couldn't you have at least _warned_ me that she was coming?"

He gave her an unrepentant smile and replied with, "Nah. It's just too much fun to see you all riled up. Besides, it was just a joke, Liz, and, by the way…are you okay today? You seem, ah, a little bit…uh, tense."

She shrugged her shoulders and started walking down the hall, her friends falling into step on either side of her.

"Sorry. I guess…I guess the weekend just wasn't as restorative as it should have been. I think I need another one," she added jokingly, and they both laughed.

The three of them then turned the corner, and nearly ran into Isabel.

The two books that Liz had been carrying fell to the floor, and Is immediately knelt down and picked them up, putting them back in Liz's hands, and then said, "Hey, have any of you seen Max or Kyle? I need to talk to both of them, but not about the same thing, about different things, but they're kind of the same, but they're really not-"

Alex cut her off, putting his hands in the time-out position.

"Hey, hey, slow down! You're, uh, kind of rambling there..."

She let out a breath and nodded.

"You're right. Sorry." She paused a moment and then said a second time, "So have any of you seen either Max or Kyle?"

Liz shook her head, as did Maria, but Alex spoke up.

"Actually, I saw Kyle headed to Mr. Ribaldi's room for English not five minutes ago, so I suspect that he's there, and as for Max, I'm pretty sure that he's in gym right now, which is where I am headed because I _choose_ to be late to that class that I believe should not _be_ a class. So…who's more important?"

The look on Isabel's face seemed conflicted, but she finally said, "Max. I need to talk to him about our group meeting on Thursday night at the Crash Down."

At that, both Alex and Maria looked surprised.

"_What_ meeting?" asked Maria, the pitch in her voice rising the way it usually did when she got upset, and Alex echoed her as he said with a similar pitch to his voice, "There's a _meeting?_"

At hearing this, Isabel looked surprised and started to say, "But Michael said that he'd told Liz and she told him that she was going to tell…" Her voice trailed off as she saw both of Liz's friends turn their eyes on her and she ducked her head, dropping her eyes to floor, not quite believing that she'd forgotten to mention it.

"You _knew?_" said Maria, her voice even higher pitched than before, and Liz cut her off, lashing out in her own defense.

"I just forgot, okay? I've had a really crazy weekend and if Michael asked me to tell you guys, then I probably don't remember because I was still nursing a migraine, alright?"

They backed down after that, but Liz glared at Isabel, slightly upset that she had put her in that position and the other girl just gave her a contrite look and mouthed the word, "Sorry," before turning heel and going down the hall to the gymnasium.

With that, Liz headed down the hall as well, towards the cafeteria, glad that she had a free period, but then Alex put his hand on her arm, stopping her.

"Sorry, Liz…I wasn't really _that_ upset, you know that. I was just surprised that you hadn't told us, yet, that's all," he said, and Maria stepped up beside her as well and gave her an apologetic look, repeating similar words to her, and she felt some of her anger dissipate.

"Sorry, guys…I would have told you, you _know_ that, I'm just, uh…still recovering from the weekend, I guess."

They both nodded, and with that Alex disappeared down the hall, going the same way that Isabel had gone, but Maria stayed behind.

Liz looked at her friend and said, "Don't you have English with Kyle? Aren't you supposed to be in class right now?"

Maria just shook her head and gently gripped Liz's elbow, steering the two of them over to the benches near the front doors, knowing that they needed to talk. They had been out of sync ever since the Prom, and she was planning to fix it.

As she sat them down, she said, "Liz…I realize I haven't been the supportive friend recently, so I want to change that. Tonight I am coming over and we are going to eat ice cream, not do homework, and you are going to tell me about everything that has been going on your life that I need to know about." Liz started to protest, but she cut her off. "No, no excuses, Liz. I have been neglecting my duties as your best friend and I need to change that. From now on, I am going to be the best best friend that you could ever have. Understood?"

Liz could hear the firm tone in her friend's voice and she nodded. There was no point in arguing with Maria when she got like this. But when she had said that she wanted know everything that had been going on in Liz's life, she realized that she was going to have to lie to her.

It churned her stomach.

It wasn't something as crazy or as easy to accept as space aliens…it would be ten times worse. Liz was seeing her best friend's ex-boyfriend…and it was even harder because of the fact that Maria still thought that she and Michael were back together, despite all of Michael's protestations.

Liz just nodded and said, "Yeah. Understood. See you at seven?"

Maria smiled, obviously pleased with the fact that she'd worn her friend down.

"See you at seven!"

And with that, she stood up and headed to class, leaving Liz alone on the bench with her thoughts.

At that moment she wanted nothing more than to talk to Michael, to ask him what she should tell Maria…_if_ she should tell Maria anything. After all, the two of them had decided to tell the group together on Thursday, at the meeting, but if she told her _tonight_…then everyone in the group would know by Tuesday morning.

And on top of that, they were now having to deal with the fact that there were apparently _more_ of them out there, somewhere, and that they were going to have to try and find them. Even though not a word had been mentioned of it, Liz knew that it was the inevitable conclusion. If there were more people like them out there, then they just might know more about where they came from, more about what their future was supposed to be. And she knew Michael, out of the four of them, would want to know about it the most.

She groaned and put her head in her hands, her thoughts racing so rapidly that she could practically _feel_ them colliding against each other inside her brain, causing flashes of light and short circuits; the beginning of yet another migraine.

Liz reached into her bag and pulled out a familiar green bottle, popping two white pills back, swallowing them dry yet again, and then pressed her fingers to her temples, her elbows on her knees, staring at the enameled floor beneath her feet.

Things were getting _way_ too complicated.

* * *

**Part 13/?**


	14. Chapter 14

**14**

Liz tried to ignore the ball of lead forming in her stomach as Maria chatted away about some rock group that she knew nothing about and took another bite of the carton of ice cream that was on the floor between the two of them.

Despite what the DeLuca girl had promised, there had been very little talking on Liz's part, and instead a lot of listening to Maria talk, which was fine with her, but she knew that her friend would soon realize that Liz had been letting her talk all night in hopes of not being asked any direct questions that would cause her to have to lie to her. That was something that _really _didn't want to do, and she cringed yet again at just the mere thought of it.

She took yet another bite, not quite actually tasting the flavor, going on automatic.

She was barely listening to what Maria was saying, her mind drifting to Michael, wondering what he was doing at that very moment. Wondering if he was thinking about her.

Her thoughts continued to stray, now wondering what he was wearing. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the glowing red numbers of her alarm clock, which said that it was already ten o'clock, which meant he'd probably crashed into bed about two hours before so that he could get up early to go to his second job.

He was in bed.

She felt her heart rate speed up at the thought, and her imagination ran wild at the possibilities. Did he wear a t-shirt and sweat pants to bed? Maybe boxers with a t-shirt? Just boxers? She gulped at the last thought that entered her mind. Nothing?

"Liz!"

She snapped her eyes back to her friend and said, "Yeah? What?"

Maria glared at her.

"You didn't hear a word of what I just said, did you?"

Liz at first thought about denying it, but as soon as she saw the look on Maria's face, she knew that she couldn't and she just shook her head and dropped her eyes, as well as her spoon, and let out a long sigh, lifting her eyes once more and staring out her window.

"I'm sorry," she said, her voice slightly withdrawn. "I'm just…"

"…Distracted?" Maria finished for her, and Liz nodded, slightly embarrassed that she'd been thinking about her best friend's ex-boyfriend while the two of them were hanging out together.

Maria nodded and then said, "Well, I _guess_ that's understandable. After all, you and Max have been having your on-again, off-again issues, while at the same you seem to think that hanging out with my delinquent cousin is the solution to all of your problems at the moment-"

Liz cut her off, looking at her in shock.

"What? Okay, first off, Max and I have been officially _off_ since Prom, and, second of all, I hung out with Sean because I _felt_ like it, not because I think that it's some sort of solution to my problems!"

Her friend gave her a look, and then said, "Wait, what do you mean about you and Max being officially 'off'?"

Liz rolled her eyes at that and said, "Oh, come on. Like you don't know? I'm pretty sure that they would have told you by now, Maria. It's not as if the fact that Max and Tess are now officially together comes as a surprise. I mean, you did _see_ them at the Crash Down the morning after, right?"

Maria was now the one with a look of shock, her eyes wide her mouth slightly gaping.

"Wait, what? When did this happen? How am I not aware of it?"

And that was when she realized that no one _had_ told Maria about Max and Tess. It slowly dawned on her just how much she'd really been keeping her friend out of the loop, and just how little interaction she had with the rest of the group. At first, Liz had been her link to the alien teenagers, and then Maria had had her thing with Michael and _that_ had become her resource for knowing what was going on, but now that she and Michael were no longer together, added to the fact that she and Liz had barely spent any time together, she _really_ didn't know what was going on.

Liz let out a sigh, realizing that she was going to have to start from the beginning…and then carefully edit out the parts that included her and Michael.

"Well, on Prom night I caught Max and Tess kissing…"

At that, Maria gasped, lifting her hand to her mouth, and Liz cut her off just as she was about to vent.

"_And_, even though I was upset about it, I realized after a while that I was okay with it. Tess is good for Max; she seems to balance him out more than I ever could, anyway, and besides…they're supposed to be together and now I can understand why."

Maria just shook her head and said, "But you and Max were so _perfect_ together, Liz! I mean, it's obvious that you two are head over heels in love with each other, and now you're going to let it all go just because his mother, in a hologram, told them that they were getting married? I mean, this sounds a bit ridiculous to me."

The brunette just shook her head, realizing that the blonde hadn't really heard a word that she had just said.

"Maria, look at me," she gently asked, gripping both of her friend's hands in her own, looking her firmly in the eye. "I don't think we were ever really in love with each other to begin with."

She could see the protest rise once more, so she cut her off at the pass, raising her voice slightly to explain what she had just said.

"When Max saved my life, I felt so…overwhelmed. I had so many emotions running through my head because he hadn't just saved my life, but he'd brought me back from the dead. That kind of thing can _really_ mess with a girl's head, especially with a scientific one like mine. So, I did the only I could and tried to rationalize it…but I still did what any other teenage girl in my position would have done, Maria."

"What?"

Liz gave her a sad smile.

"I turned him into some sort of tragic, Byronic hero, and fell in love with the _idea _of him. That's all either of us did, I think. We fell in love with the _idea_ of being in love. We put the other person on a pedestal, but by doing that we both stood apart from each other, not realizing that if we took one step away from the pedestal that we'd been placed on that we would fall down to reality and ruin what the other person saw in us."

Maria slowly pulled back her hands and gave her an odd look, arching an eyebrow.

"Okaaay," she said, drawing out the vowel. "Sounds to me like you've been reading a little bit too much psychology and English poetry, Liz."

Liz rolled her eyes and dropped her hands to her knees and sighed in exasperation.

"Well, I can't think of any other way to put it, Maria! I mean…it's the only way that I can explain it, you know? I've had a lot of time to think, recently, and this is what I figured out…and it makes _sense_ to me, Maria. It all fits and makes perfect sense to me! After I finally took a step back and took off my rose-colored, Max glasses, I was able to see that I was never really in love with him. Love is supposed to make you _happy_, not miserable, and most of the time I was miserable. Don't you see that?"

There was a long moment, but then she saw her friend slowly nod her head.

"Yeah…I guess I can see that. It's just…why didn't you come to me earlier with all of this? I could have helped you, sweetie. That's what best friends are for," she said, reaching over and grabbing one of Liz's hands, giving her a sympathetic look.

Liz just gave her a faint smile and then merely nodded, realizing that the reason she hadn't told Maria about Max and Tess kissing was because she subconsciously knew that that was _exactly _what she was doing to Maria. She was with Michael, and she knew that it was serious, and now she was going to be breaking her best friend's heart in just two and a half days. It was as though her subconscious had been trying to protect her by already severing ties with the person that she was about to betray.

That didn't sit well with her, and she felt stomach start to churn, yet again, and she quickly put it to the side, knowing that these next couple of days were probably going to be the last ones that she still had Maria as a friend.

"Yeah, well, I guess…I guess I just wanted to deal with it myself, you know?" she said, answering her friend's question. "I'm sorry. I _should_ have come to you."

Maria just threw her a devil-may-care smile, and then said, "So, are we going stay up gossiping about cute actors or do each other's nails?"

Liz grinned.

"Nails and _then_ cute actors."

Maria grinned right back and pulled out six or seven different kinds of nail polish, completely unaware that this was most likely the last girl's night that she ever had with her best friend. Or possibly one of the last times that she even _had_ a best friend, Liz thought to herself, certain that after Thursday, she would no longer be a part of the girl's life.

Thinking about what Maria's reaction would most likely be to her and Michael getting together made her wonder about how the rest of the group would react.

She remembered what Michael had said to Kyle just yesterday morning.

That Isabel and Alex would take it just fine, but that the other three wouldn't. She rolled this thought around her mind and decided that she agreed with it. Mostly.

Alex would most likely be shocked, but he would accept Liz's choice and trust her judgment. Isabel, on the other hand, she wasn't entirely sure about. Isabel had only tolerated her because she had been with her brother, so how would she feel now that she was with Michael? The one that she was _supposedly_ betrothed to?

Even though Liz knew that Isabel had never looked at Michael in that way, she was still aware of the fact that she was still splitting up the Royal Four, yet again, and she felt guilty about it, and she was fairly certain that Isabel would see it that way. That she was taking yet another person away from the group, but Liz knew that she wasn't doing it deliberately.

Tess, on the other hand, was much harder to read. She didn't really know Tess very well, but she knew that the girl was very determined on keeping the Royal Four together, which meant that she would most likely see Liz, yet again, as a threat to that balance. It probably wouldn't matter one bit to her that they had feelings for each other that ran deep enough for them to get flashes from each other; she would probably try to write it off as their imagination to try and keep them apart, in order to keep her own peace of mind. Her stomach flipped at that thought.

However, it was Max's reaction that worried her the most. The one that worried her to the point of a nervous breakdown. He would see it as a betrayal and would probably try to accuse her of cheating on him, when it hadn't ever even crossed her mind until the night that she had showed up Michael's doorstep. He would…well, she had no idea _what_ he would do, and that was what was so terrifying about it. That she didn't know.

But in the end, it didn't matter. Being with Max had felt, now that she thought about it, like an obligation, but being with Michael felt…right. Like she'd found the person she wanted beside her for the rest of her life.

All of this went through her head as Maria picked out a color for her nails, and she quickly brought her brain back to the occasion.

It was time to enjoy the time that was going to have with her friend, because she knew that it was dwindling.

And now, all she had to do was wait for Thursday.

* * *

**Part 14/?**


	15. Chapter 15

**15**

School the next day went by excruciatingly slowly, and Liz, around fifth period, felt another migraine start to settle just behind her eyes. She asked herself to be excused from class, surprising Mrs. Winters, but she was allowed to go, and she made her way to the eraser room.

It was the one place that she knew would be deserted, and she needed to the peace and quiet.

As she headed there, she bumped into Alex in the hall.

"Alex, aren't you supposed to be in Trig?"

He gave her a look and then showed her the papers that he had in his hand and said, "Yeah, but Mr. Brown says I'm far enough ahead that I should be helping him out with his _less_ than gifted students, which means that I'm administering retests to the jocks in the gym right now. Whoopee."

She gave him a commiserating smile, and then he asked, "What about you? I thought you had Winters for fifth period."

Liz nodded.

"Yeah, but I think my head doesn't agree with me," she said, pointing at her forehead. "Another migraine."

He looked at her in surprise.

"Another one? Didn't you have one on Sunday?"

She nodded and then added, "And yesterday, too. Looks like the stress of the weekend is catching up with me, huh?" He just looked at her, a worried expression on his face and in his eyes, and she gave him a look and said, "Don't worry about it. I'm gonna take some Excedrin and lie down for a while. That should do the trick."

And with that she turned and continued on her intended path, not noticing Alex's worried gaze following her down the hall before he, too, turned and then went the opposite direction.

As soon as she closed the door behind her, she went over and moved some of the desks and laid her jacket out on the floor and then laid down on top of it, closing her eyes.

Her backpack sat next to her on the floor, and she blindly reached over to it, her right hand digging through the pockets until she felt the familiar bottle and, with her eyes still closed, opened it and popped two pills in her mouth, and then grabbed her bottle of water from the other side pocket and swallowed the capsules with a sip of the cool liquid.

She could feel a faint sweat breaking out on her head that seemed to spread down to the rest of her body, and she figured it was her body reacting to the migraine. It had happened once or twice before, but now as she felt herself also start to shiver, she realized never to this severity. She opened her eyes just slightly and turned her head to find the edge of her coat beneath her, which she then pulled at and managed to partially wrap around her shoulders.

She didn't know how long she lay there, but then she heard a bell and she recognized it as the bell for last period, which happened to be the one class that she shared with Michael.

Liz then decided to attempt to sit up, but her head and vision swam, and she quickly lay back down, silently hoping that Michael would notice she was missing and come looking for her. She knew that he would worry and hoped that it would be enough to get him to skip class.

More time passed, and the headache didn't seem to ease up, and now _she_ was worried. This wasn't a normal migraine.

She heard another bell, this one, she knew, was the one for the buses. School was done for the day. And there was nothing after school on Tuesdays, which meant the school would be locked up in less than an hour.

_Please,_ she silently pleaded in her mind. _Find me, Michael…_

After what felt like an hour, but was probably only a few minutes, she heard the door to the eraser room open and she let out a sigh of relief when she saw a familiar pair of legs.

"Michael…" she managed to barely breathe out, and he was suddenly by her side, placing warm, dry fingers on her forehead, checking to see if she was okay, and then she heard another voice say, "Oh my god, Liz!", and she dimly realized that it was Tess's voice.

What was Michael doing with Tess? And heading towards the eraser room?

"Liz, it's me, Michael," he said, as he slipped one arm under shoulders and the other one under her knees. "I'm going to pick you up, now, okay?"

She nodded, but then stopped, her head swimming with colors when she moved it, as well as feeling as though someone was tapping a nail directly into the side of her head. Letting out a small groan, she let her head fall against Michael's chest as he picked her up and took her out of the room.

Trying to hold onto reality, she heard him say to Tess, "Grab her stuff. We're taking her home."

She heard Tess reply.

"What? But shouldn't we take her to Max? He could heal her," and then Michael cut her off.

"No. This is a migraine; she had one the day before yesterday. I don't want Max messing with her head, it's too risky and dangerous. Anything could go wrong. We get her home and try to get her fever down; she's burning up."

That was the last thing that she properly heard before everything turning dark.

The next thing that she became aware of was several different voices, all of them familiar, having a whispered argument near where she was laying down. It took her a moment, but she quickly realized that she was on her bed in her room.

How had she gotten there?

Slowly, she opened her eyes and sat up, and then heard an overly loud voice say, "She's awake!"

Maria.

Instinctively, she closed her eyes and braced herself for the impact that she knew was coming, but it never came. Unsure of what was going on, Liz opened her eyes, and saw Kyle and Alex in her doorway holding her best friend back from jumping on her and she smiled and said, "Thanks, guys. Not sure if I can handle Hurricane DeLuca just yet."

At that, both of them smiled and Maria stopped struggling.

"Okay, look," she said, trying to bargain her way out of their grips. "I _promise_ I won't attack her. I just want to make sure she's okay, alright?"

The two guys shared a look over her head and then they nodded, both of them letting go of her arms, right after which she bounded into the room and wrapped her arms around Liz in a chokingly tight hug, the sight of which had both of the boys rolling their eyes.

"Oh god, Liz, thank the lord that you're alright! If Michael and Tess hadn't found you…"

At that, Liz pulled back from the hug and gave all three of them a look and said, "About that, what exactly happened? I mean, my migraine's gone, but I'm still a little bit fuzzy on how I got here…"

At this, both Alex and Kyle grinned while Maria looked a bit put out, leaving Liz a bit confused, but then Alex said, "Michael."

She looked at Kyle for more of an explanation, and then noticed that his grin was even wider and there was a twinkle in his eyes. She'd seen a version of that look before; when he had been blackmailing her and Michael for their silence with a bacon, egg, and cheese melt.

Kyle then said, "Michael _carried_ you. All the way here. From the _school_."

At this, Liz's eyebrows rose into her hairline and she felt her heart dangerously skip a beat. Was he an _idiot?_ Was he trying to get them found out before Thursday?

"Oh. That was nice of him," was all she said, and she was proud of her restraint.

Maria looked at her, an incredulous look in her eyes, not quite believing what she was hearing from her friend, and she said, "That was nice of him? That was _nice_ of him? You have a migraine that causes you to pass out and have a fever of who knows how high, and when you find out that Michael, Mr. Insensitive himself, _carried_ you for more than three blocks, all you can say is 'Oh' and 'That was nice of him'?"

Liz shrugged, not sure of what Maria had expected of her.

"Yeah…that's all I have to say. Probably," she added, with a pointed look at the people in the room, "Because not one of you has really answered my questions. I mean, you answered number two, but I still don't know what happened. And, by the way, where's my ride gone to?"

Alex chuckled, while Maria simply threw her hands up in the air, and he walked further into the room, sitting on the edge of Liz's bed.

"Well, what happened is a bit muddled, but I'll take you through it best I can," he said, patting her leg, but was cut off as Michael, Isabel, Tess, and Max showed up in her doorway.

Michael was the first to ask, "How're you feeling? Do you need anything?"

She shook her head, and then saw Max's concerned gaze and said, "Really, I'm fine. I think the rest did me some good. The migraine's gone, and I don't feverish or anything like before, so I'd say that I'm out of the woods."

Michael's gaze went hard at her answer and she gave him a subtle but pointed look, silently telling him to not do anything that would tip anyone off. Max's gaze was still concerned, and even Tess and Isabel looked worried, too, which surprised her. Of course, Tess had been with Michael when he'd found her in the eraser room and she had seemed genuinely worried then, as well, so Liz decided to let it slide and took the situation for what it was.

Liz repeated her question.

"What happened? Oh, and by the way," she added, understandably curious, "How did you find me?"

Tess and Michael shared a look, and Tess stepped forward, sliding her hands into her back pockets the way that she usually did when put on the spot and was slightly uncomfortable.

"Uh, well, _actually_, it was all thanks to Alex that we found you." Alex looked surprised, so she explained. "He and I have class together during sixth period, and when he showed up he said that he'd seen you in the hall and that you looked like you really weren't feeling well, and that he was worried about you. I, uh, didn't think much of it until I stepped out and passed by Mr. Ribaldi's room…and you weren't there."

She looked over at Michael, who turned a bit red, and then continued.

"I, uhm, saw Michael in class. Asleep. I, uh, convinced Mr. Ribaldi that Michael was needed in the office, and we went looking for you…"

She looked again over at Michael, who then said, "We checked a few places, and then it occurred to me that if you needed someplace quiet where you wouldn't be interrupted…well…that the eraser room was probably the best bet."

Liz just nodded.

"Thanks, Michael."

He just nodded, and a vague tension filled the room, which, luckily, Isabel broke.

"Okay, now that we know that she's okay, we need to get out before Mr. Parker sees us…remember?" she said, looking pointedly at Tess, and at that comment, Liz looked at Tess as well, and Tess gave her an apologetic look.

"We couldn't have your dad hovering, because with your fever you were talking a lot in your sleep, so I made him think that you had come home not feeling too great and that you came up here alone to sleep for a bit. You're off for your next shift tonight, by the way."

Liz just nodded.

"That's fine. Good thinking."

Tess seemed surprised by her compliment, but then ducked her head slightly and backed up to the doorway, leaning her shoulder against Max and looking up at him as she then said, "We should probably go now, and let Liz take care of things from here."

Max nodded, absently running his fingers over her shoulder and then said to Liz, "We'll see you later, okay?"

Liz nodded and watched as he, Tess, and Isabel left, who were soon followed by Maria and Alex, who both wished her well, leaving just Michael and Kyle in the room with her.

Kyle gave the two of them a look, glanced out her window, and then said, "So…you guys planning on telling them, or what? Because _that_ would have been your moment. Right there. When everyone was in the same room and in neutral territory."

Michael glared at Kyle and Liz could see that he was about to fling out an insult and she quickly jumped in before he could.

"We were _planning_ on telling them on Thursday. At the meeting."

Michael looked at her, obviously frustrated by the fact that she had spoken before he had and she simply gave him a look, raising an eyebrow, to which he responded with a barely noticeable eye roll, which she responded to with a shake of her head.

Kyle then said, "As fascinating as this little silent conversation _is,_ I've got places to be, and I know that Maria is probably waiting for you downstairs," he added, pointing at Michael, "So it's probably best if you come with me."

Michael gave him a short nod, and then gave the jock a look.

"Could you just…give us a moment?"

Kyle simply stepped out into the hall and they both waited to hear his footsteps fade, and as soon as they heard that he was far enough away, Michael, in one single, long stride, was at her bed, sitting on the edge of it and putting his hands on either side of her face, pressing his forehead against hers.

"God, Liz….don't scare me like that, again!"

She simply nodded and then lifted her hands and placed them over his, but he didn't let go. Instead, he used them to draw her closer and pressed his lips against hers, and she could feel a slight tremor in his kiss and she knew that he had been truly worried about her. She returned his kiss as gently as she could, trying to reassure him in the only way that she knew how. She'd never seen him so undone before and it unnerved her.

She slowly pulled back far enough to look him in the eyes and managed to slowly drop his hands from her face, so that they were now in her lap, and she gave him a calm look as she gently squeezed his fingers and said, "Hey…I'm fine. I just had a really bad migraine and I'm _fine-_"

He cut her off, his gaze hardening.

"No, Liz. You _weren't_ fine. You were nearly passed out on the floor of the eraser room and it was only by coincidence and strange circumstances that we were able to_ find _you. I mean," he added, pulling his hands from hers and putting them around her upper arms, "Have you _ever_ had a migraine that bad before?"

She wanted to tell him that she had, that everything was normal, that he didn't need to worry…but she couldn't. Because it would be a lie. It had never happened that badly before, actually, and she was a bit worried herself, but she didn't want him to know just how worried she was.

He was still staring at her, waiting for an answer.

She simply shook her head.

"No. I haven't."

He let out a long sigh and then absently rubbed his hand over her shoulder.

"I know you had a migraine on Sunday, too. Is that normal for you? You know, to get migraines so close together?"

She shook her head a second time, and then remembered that she'd also had one on Monday, as well. For a brief second she thought about not telling him, but dismissed the thought as soon as it came into her head. No, she had to tell him.

Hesitating slightly, she said, "Uh, Michael…I, uh, had one yesterday, too."

He looked at her in surprise.

"You had one _yesterday?_ That makes three migraines in three days, Liz. Even _I_ know that that's dangerous. Maybe we _should_ get you to a doctor," he added, starting to stand up, but as he said that, she shook her head and grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back down to her.

"No, Michael. I just need…I just need some time. I'll just keep my stress level down and I'll be fine, okay?"

He looked at her.

"You know, I'm _really_ starting to hate that word. 'Fine.' All it means is that you're trying to make me feel better."

She let out a sigh and was about to say something else when Kyle stuck his head into the room and said, "Okay, seriously, guys? You're kind of pushing the believability on how long the three of us could stay up here and _not_ tear each other's throats apart."

Liz nodded.

"Got it, Kyle." She turned her gaze back on the one sitting on the edge of her bed and said, "See you soon."

And with that, just to vex Kyle as well as getting some enjoyment out of it as well, she leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to Michael's lips. She heard Kyle make a gagging sound, and both her and Michael's lips curved slightly. They pulled back and she was glad to see some of the spark back in his eyes.

"You better go."

He nodded.

"Yeah…see you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow."

And with that, he and Kyle were gone and Liz was left feeling slightly bereft, wanting Michael back for a bit longer. What she wouldn't give to have him stay next to her, because she was actually feeling more than worried. Already, she could feel another migraine lingering somewhere behind her eyes.

She closed her eyes and laid back down. Perhaps rest was all that she needed.

She hoped it was.

* * *

**Part 15/?**


	16. Chapter 16

**16**

Liz woke up at five in the morning, unable to get back to sleep, knowing that about forty hours from now she was going to be telling everyone that she and Michael were having a relationship. It was ricocheting around in her head, and even though she was desperate to fall back asleep, it simply wouldn't leave her.

Trying to get her mind off of it, she instead thought about the other news that they were going to be talking about at the meeting.

The fact that they had now found out that there were more of them out there. And they had no way of knowing who they were because they wouldn't be adopted, they would have been born to normal parents. Their cells would be completely human.

Suddenly, she had a thought, and she bolted up in bed.

Actually…there _was_ a way that they could tell.

She scrambled out of bed to her desk and pulled it out her notebook that held all of her notes that she'd taken on Max's cells when she'd first gotten samples of it. She had also snuck into the lab one night and run her own tests, realizing that it was something in the RNA that had been changed. Only one or two codes.

If she could find a way for Alex to hack into the high school student's health information, they could match it up. They had just routine physicals for everyone on the sports teams, and there was a pretty good chance that they might find a match. They should be the same age, or possibly younger, and they just might catch a lucky break, _especially_ since they had such large teams this year. Nearly everyone was involved with something, excluding, of course, herself and her friends.

Now that she had this idea, she knew she wouldn't be able to fall back asleep.

She glanced at her backpack and sighed.

Might as well do some homework.

* * *

By late afternoon, she was nearly falling asleep in class. The surge of energy that she'd gotten from her discovery that morning had faded and she could now feel its repercussions. She fought back yet another yawn and tried not to slump over against her desk and bolted up in her chair as Mr. Ribaldi called on her.

"Miss Parker, what is your opinion on the second stanza in Frost's poem?"

She looked to the book that was open in front of her. _The Road Not Taken._ Of course.

Discreetly rubbing her face, she looked back down at the poem and scrambled through her thoughts to come up with an answer and started to speak, thinking her thoughts out loud as they came to her, hoping against hope that it would turn into something coherent.

Her eyes quickly scanned the words…

_Then took the other as just as fair, and having perhaps the better claim, because it was grassy and wanted wear, though as for that passing there, had worn them really about the same…_

She started to speak.

"Well, I think that Frost is trying to say-"

Mr. Ribaldi cut her off, his voice gentle but firm as he said, "Miss Parker, though I am glad that you are trying to see into the thoughts of the _poet_, I am more anxious to hear your _own_ opinion on it. As in, how do you see it pertaining to your own life, for example?"

She steadied herself, looked back at the words and tried again.

"Well, I guess…well, I guess we always focus on the last three lines of the poem and forget about the rest, and this stanza shows us that the two pathways are equally desirable as the one line says that they were worn about the same…"

Her teacher nodded.

"Good observation. Anything else?"

Liz glanced back at her teacher, who was circling around the back of the room, and saw Michael sitting in the corner, his eyes and shoulders much more alert than they would normally be, and she suddenly felt self-conscious and ducked her eyes as she continued her oral observations.

"Uh…in _my_ opinion," she emphasized, earning a grin from Mr. Ribaldi, "I think that we have a lot of choices in life where we have to choose between two _good_ things, not knowing which one will be the best for us because we can't see that far ahead…"

He nodded again, and she suddenly found her thoughts focused on Michael and Max as she spoke.

"…And that sometimes, we need to make a decision that seems less likely for us to make, because it just might lead us to someone-some_where_," she quickly corrected herself, "That we never expected. And even though other people might think it to be the _wrong_ choice, it could be the best choice…and it just might be the best place _for_ us to be, even if we can't see it in the beginning."

By that point, her teacher had circled around and was standing next to her desk. He looked down at her and smiled.

"Thank you, Miss Parker. That's very astute…and very revealing," he added, winking at her, obviously noticing the slip of tongue.

She blushed and firmly focused her gaze back on the front, feeling Michael's eyes on her back.

Class inched by after that, during which she knew Michael's gaze never left her. As soon as the bell rang, she grabbed her books, shoved them into her bag, and made her way to the door. She slipped into the hallway and was making her way to her last class, when a hand shot out of nowhere and pulled her into an empty classroom.

"What-?"

Her cry was cut off as a very familiar hand clapped over her mouth.

"It's me."

It was Michael. Somehow he'd managed to get out of the room ahead of her without her noticing and now had her all alone. He dropped his hand as soon as he saw that she was okay, and then gave her a look, one of _his_ looks.

"So," she said, tucking her hands in her back pockets. "What's with the kidnapping?"

He took a step closer to her, bearing over her and repeated the look, this time with an eyebrow raised and said, "C'mon, Liz…you know why. What was with that thing that you did back there in English, what's it called again? Oh, yeah…a Freudian slip."

She tried to look away, but his hand came up and his thumb and forefingers gently brought her eyes back to his.

"Liz…just…tell me."

His voice was soft and as gentle as his touch, and it had her resolve crumbling, as the look in his eyes seemed to melt away her emotional wall.

She let out a sigh and her shoulders dropped.

"Okay…well, I just sort of came to a…realization, I guess. About…about you and…and Max." His gaze turned confused and she quickly explained before he started firing off questions in the way that he normally did when he was frustrated. "I _realized_ that when I was in your apartment after Prom, I had two choices. I could be girl that everyone expected me to be and simply leave Max and mope…_or,_" she emphasized, "I could make a choice about what I really wanted. _Who_ I really wanted."

He looked at her in surprise and she pulled her hands out of her pockets and lifted one up to his face.

"You…you mean that you…"

She nodded.

"Yeah. I've noticed you before, Michael. When everyone else couldn't understand why you were doing things, I always did…and I respected it. I noticed you. Now," she added, her lips turning into a wry grin. "Can you go ahead and kiss me already so we can make it to seventh period? We already missed it yesterday, and we're going to be late as it is."

A grin appeared on his face and he acquiesced, and leaned down and placed a thoroughly searching kiss on her lips.

She quickly pulled away and stepped out of the room, without even a backward glance, and he smiled…and then followed after her.

As they walked to class, she whispered to him quickly, "Oh, and by the way, I think I have an idea about how to find the _others_." Her emphasis was clear. "I'll mention it at the meeting tomorrow if that's okay with you."

He nodded just as they walked through the classroom door, both of them ducking the disapproving look from their teacher and made their way to their desks, one thought on both of their minds for two entirely different reasons.

Tomorrow couldn't come soon enough.

* * *

**Part 16/?**


	17. Chapter 17

**17**

Liz cleaned the counter for what was probably the tenth time. And she looked up at the clock.

Eight thirty-seven.

She had twenty three minutes left.

And as she ran her cloth over the counter for what was now the eleventh time, she knew that it was going to be the longest twenty-three minutes of her life. She simply wanted the meeting done and over with…and she _still_ wasn't sure that telling everyone about the two of them was the best idea.

She knew that they _would_ have to tell them, eventually, but she thought that this wasn't the best time. There was too much going on, already.

Both she and Michael were worried about coming out to their friends, along with the fact that they had now discovered that there were others just like them in the crash who were most likely still in Roswell, and, to top it all off, she was having migraines nearly every single day this week.

She'd had a mild one earlier that day that had, luckily, not lasted very long.

As her hands wiped down the counter for the twelfth time, Elise came out of the back, sliding the antennae off the top of her head.

"Hey, Liz…done cleaning the counter yet?" she said, a small grin on her lips, and Liz groaned and stuffed the cloth into front pocket. She had already changed out of her uniform, as her shift had ended an hour earlier earlier, and she glared at the girl.

"Don't start with me, Elise. I'm still recovering from the migraine I had this morning."

The other brunette girl gave her a look as she came behind the counter, sliding her order pad out of her alien-head apron onto the formica edge, her hazel eyes focused on her.

"Migraine? Huh, me, too. I've had one on and off ever since Sunday," she said, and Liz's eyes snapped over to her, suddenly very interested in what she was saying. "I mean, I used to get them maybe once every three or four months, but this weekend just decided to play havoc with my system. I guess I just haven't recovered from that insane Sunday rush, you know?"

Liz just nodded, at first not going to say anything, but she found herself unable to stop the question from tumbling from her lips.

"Uh, how long have you had migraines?"

Elise shrugged.

"Oh, since I was fourteen, I guess. Why?"

She shook her head and replied, "Oh, no reason. Just…curious."

Just as she was about to ask another question, the small bell on the front door rang and she looked to see Isabel and Alex walking in, he with a basketball in his hands, talking about something to do with computers. Whatever it was, Alex was trying to explain it and Is had a slightly glazed look in her eyes, but a faint smile on her lips, as though amused by his enthusiasm.

Liz looked up at the clock.

Eight forty-two.

Why were they already here?

They sat down at the counter, and before she could even get out a question, Isabel leaned forward and said in a low tone that only Liz could hear, "I was at the computer lab at the library working on a project and the computer froze up. Alex happened to be there and he fixed it…and then started _talking_. I haven't been able to get him to shut up for over an _hour_, now…what do I do?"

She sounded desperate, so Liz leaned in and whispered in her ear, "Try flashing him the full Isabel Evans smile. It should stun him long enough for you to start your own topic of conversation."

Is raised an eyebrow at her, obviously not quite believing her, but Liz just reflected her own look back at her.

She watched as the blonde turned on her stool and then leaned forward towards Alex, placed a hand on his arm and said, "Hey, Alex, I was wondering," and then flashed him the _smile_…and, just as Liz had predicted, his words ran dry and he simply gaped like a codfish for a moment and then said, "Yes, Isabel?", to which she immediately changed the subject without him being any bit the wiser.

Liz chuckled under her breath and then looked over to see Elise with a faint grin on her lips.

"Nice move," she mouthed and Liz just grinned back.

After a few more minutes, Kyle and Tess showed up, and as Kyle approached the counter he nodded towards Elise and then whispered to Liz, "Should we really be meeting down here if she's going to be closing the store tonight?"

The brunette nodded.

"You're right. Let's take it upstairs to the living room. My parents are out for the evening."

So, with that, the five of them went upstairs to wait for Max, Michael, and Maria. As they settled in the living room, Liz went to the kitchen to get drinks for everyone, and she bit her lip at the fact that Michael and Maria were still both not there, not worried the least about Max. Even though she _knew_ that Michael was not interested in Maria, she knew that it wouldn't stop Maria from trying something anyway. The girl was dangerously persistent when she had someone in her sights, and there was no telling _what_ she might do.

The thought nagged at her until she heard Kyle's impatient voice yell, "Parker! Where are those drinks? Aren't you supposed to be the one hosting this shindig?"

She heard Tess say, "It's a _meeting_, Michael. Not some…shindig."

Alex then joined in, adding, "Well, there's already chips and dip on the coffee table, along with the mellow sounds of Ani in the background and casual clothing as the dress code. I think Kyle's right. This is classified as a shindig."

"I rest my case," she heard Kyle add, and she rolled her eyes, walking into the room just as Michael, Max, and Maria showed up, in that order, making her feel much more reassured, seeing that Maria made no move towards Michael, and the fact that Michael then took the seat closest to Liz confirmed her reassurance.

They all took a moment to enjoy the food and drink, and then Max stood up and the somewhat comfortable atmosphere immediately became strained.

"Okay…so, there's a reason why I called-" Michael glared at him, and he corrected himself. "Why _we_ called…" Michael glared again, and Max let out an exasperated sigh and said, with a broad gesture in his friend's direction, "Fine, you want to take over? Be my guest."

"Love to," Michael said dryly, and he quickly took Max's place, but opted for sitting on the back of the couch, instead of towering over everyone.

"We have some news. Max and Alex went out to the ship and they found something. Alex, do you think you can explain it?" At that, Alex looked surprised, the basketball he'd been rolling between his hands coming to a stop, as he had been certain that there was going to be no mention of his involvement, but he nodded; however, just as he was about to start, Michael clarified and said, "In the simplest terms, please. So that everyone who _isn't_ a nerd in here can understand."

Alex nodded again and Liz bit back a smile, wondering if anyone had realized that backhanded compliment that Michael had just given him.

"Uh, well, back behind some of the pods, I found something. Something _else_. It was what _looked _like…uh…equipment for…uh, artificial reproduction."

Liz could see how he was being hesitant in his words and saw the blank look on Kyle's and Maria's faces and quickly clarified for him.

"Insemination equipment."

Kyle immediately looked uncomfortable and Maria's eyes widened and she breathed out an, "Oh!", but then their faces, and several others, all gathered looks of confusion and Isabel's seemed to be the most confused. She looked up at Michael, her brow furrowing.

"Wait…what does that mean, exactly? I mean, we were _made_, not born, so why would there be any of…_that_…kind of equipment on the ship?"

Liz saw him sigh, and then he motioned to Max.

"Well, from what Alex and Max could figure out…we weren't the only ones on that ship. And," he added, before anyone could start talking over him, "I wanted to ask Tess if she knew if Nasedo had ever talked about ever taking anything _from_ the ship before he took her out of the pod."

He looked over at her and she shrugged, obviously unsure.

"I…I don't know. I mean, he talked about finding others, but I thought he just meant the three of you, I didn't think that there were…_more_ of us…"

Her voice faded and she looked uncomfortable, and Liz discreetly gave a pointed look towards Michael, trying to silently tell him that he shouldn't push the issue any further, and he simply nodded.

"Okay," he said, his voice a bit less hard than it had been before. "I just wanted to find anything that could help us. As it is, we now know that it's more than likely that there are others out there a lot like us, if not exactly the same. If we do find them, we don't push them into helping us."

At this, Max and Tess looked a bit taken aback, and Isabel's interest finally piqued, her eyes locking on her friend.

Michael explained.

"They're gonna have human parents, and the fact that they have alien DNA isn't going to change their minds about where their home is, so we have no right to tell them to give it up for a cause that no longer applies to them. If we find them, we simply talk to them. That's all."

Liz felt a surge of pride swell up in her chest at hearing his words. Michael was a _good_ man, and this merely attested to that fact. She glanced to the rest of the group and was pleased to see nearly everyone nodding…except for Tess and Max. Max didn't seem upset by it, but Liz could tell that he was looking to Tess, following _her_ lead, and she was the one in the group who looked upset by Michael's words, her brow furrowed and her lips pursed.

She spoke up, her tone as condescending as it had been when she had first become a part of the group, and it caused Liz's hackles to rise in defense of Michael's words.

"Uh, Michael…they don't really have a _choice_. They're a part of us, whoever they are, which means that they must have been important in the war on our planet, which means that they _have_ to come back with us. If _we_ didn't get a choice, then neither do they. All of us were sent here for a _reason_, Michael, and just because Max said that you could run this little pow-wow, does _not_ make you the leader. You're still his second in command, and _he_ makes the decisions."

Michael didn't even hesitate.

"Yeah, his _second_ in command. That makes you, what? Third?" he retorted, crossing his arms over his chest as he removed himself from the back of the couch, standing up to his full intimidating height, staring her down, not in the least bit bothered by her words. "As second in command, I'm giving him my _advice_ and, because he's the leader and my friend, I know he'll take it into account when he makes his decision," he finished, looking over at Max, staring him down, silently daring him to contradict his words.

All eyes were now on Max and Liz knew that he was not comfortable with it. Even though he used his weight as leader to keep things under control between the four of them, she knew that he wasn't entirely sure of himself, and she could see it in his eyes.

After a long, tension-filled moment, he said, "Michael's right," and everyone relaxed slightly, but then he added, "And so is Tess."

They all looked at him, and he took a deep breath and explained.

"We _don't_ have any right to tell them to take up this cause…but, at the same time, they _are_ a part of us and must have some purpose being here with us, otherwise they wouldn't have been sent." He paused, taking another breath, and then said, "First of all, we need to figure out how many there are and then we need to find a way to find them…"

Liz slowly raised her hand and he nodded at her, and she said, "I may have an answer to the second one."

Everyone's eyes snapped over to her and she suddenly felt nervous as she explained.

"I, uh, have samples of Max's cells from…well, from when I…you know, found out about you guys, and I did some testing on it a while back. There's a specific RNA strand that's different from normal human sequencing and if Alex can hack the school's medical records, we can at least check out some of the students to see if anyone matches. It's a long shot, but we just might find someone," she finished, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

They were all nodding, but then Alex suddenly stopped rolling the basketball in his hands, yet again, and said, "Wait a second. You want me to _hack_ the school's medical records? As in…_illegally_ break into?"

Isabel, who was sitting next him, looked up at him and said, with a casual glance, "Well, if you can't _do_ it, we understand, Alex, I mean, it _is_ asking a lot of you…"

He looked at her, eyes wide.

"Oh, no, no, no, no…I can _do_ it, trust me. I mean, hacking into their records is easy compared to some of the FBI hacks I've done in the past year, it's just…I could actually get _caught_ doing this one. I'm one of maybe two or three people in the whole _school_ district who could do it."

Is gave him a small smile.

"So…you'll do it, then?"

He then realized what he'd walked into and Liz could tell that everyone was attempting to hide their smiles. Alex let out a long sigh and then covered his face with his hands, leaving the basketball in his lap, and nodded, and through his hands they heard a muffled, "Yeah, I'll do it," and Max nodded.

"It's a good idea, Liz. We should do it as soon as we can. In the meantime," he added, nodding to Alex, who had dropped his hands from his face, "You can come back out to the ship with me again, and Is, Tess and Michael should come along, too. I want to see if we can figure out just how many of them there are supposed to be and _who_ they're supposed to be, if we can."

He then nodded back at Michael, letting him take it over once more and Michael returned the nod.

"Okay, then. We have a plan and everyone knows what's going on."

At this, Maria raised her hand and said, "And what about us?", gesturing to herself and Kyle. "Are we just here to make us feel _less_ left out? 'Cause, if so, I'm not so sure that it's working."

Michael slightly rolled his eyes, and Liz was about to interject, but she was surprised when Michael responded first and said to them, "No, you're not here to feel less left out. When we find them, we're gonna need someone to talk to them, and you two are going to be our contacts." They both looked surprised, as was everyone else in the group, so they all listened intently as he said, "Maria, you've got friends in lots of different groups at the school, as does Kyle, and both of you are pretty popular and people trust you. Especially you, Kyle, because your dad's the sheriff. That okay with you?"

Maria, taken aback by his candor, simply nodded, as did Kyle.

"Yeah…that's fine."

"Good."

He then walked out from behind the couch and headed back over to his chair, and Liz was about to move from the arm of it, but he stopped her by grasping her hand in his, and she saw Maria's eyes lock onto the gesture. Oh no…was he _really_ serious about telling everyone now? Couldn't they wait at least a few more days?

She felt the blood rushing to her face as everyone's eyes slowly locked on to the two of them and she dropped her own eyes, unable to meet everyone's gaze. She looked down at Michael, wondering if he was going to let go of her hand, but he didn't, and instead was gently running his thumb over the back of it, blatantly showing to anyone who had eyes that their relationship was more than platonic, and Liz found herself holding her breath, terrified of what might be said.

Surprisingly enough, it was Isabel who broke the silence.

"So…you and Michael, huh?"

Cautiously, Liz raised her head and looked the Evans girl in the eye. She saw no accusation, just plain curiosity, and she felt her nerves settle slightly.

"Uh…yeah. Me and Michael…so, uh," she paused a moment, licking her lips. "You're…you're okay with this?"

She shrugged.

"Well, you two seem comfortable together, that's for sure, and he's not acting weird or like he doesn't know what to do around you, so….yeah. I'm perfectly fine with it," she said, leaning back in her chair and casting a glance over at her brother, who seemed to be clenching his jaw.

Liz cast a glance at everyone else, trying to gauge their reactions, and was slightly surprised by a few things, but un-surprised by several other things.

Alex's eyes were wide, and the basketball was now all but forgotten in his hands, however, he was slowly nodding, and Liz felt a surge of comfort by the sight. Kyle was, of course, ignoring them, as he already knew their secret, and instead leaned over and grabbed another chip and dipped it into the bowl of salsa still sitting on the table. Tess was merely looking at the two of them with a vaguely curious eye, neither approving or disapproving. Max and Maria, however, were another story. Max was looking at her with a look that was reminiscent of a kicked puppy, and Maria was glaring daggers at the both of them.

Max said nothing, but as Maria slowly stood, fire in her eyes, Liz felt her heart plummet.

* * *

**Part 17/?**


	18. Chapter 18

**18**

"You…and _her?"_

Liz's eyes went wide. She was going after Michael, not her. But why…?

"Dammit, Michael! You could have just told me that you were seeing someone else instead of letting me make a total _ass_ out of myself by going after you! I can't believe you let me believe that I still had a chance with you, you jerk!"

At this, Michael's eyes snapped up to hers and he tightened his grip on Liz's fingers.

"_Let_ you believe? Uh, I believe I told you that I wasn't interested, Maria…you just don't seem to know how to _listen_. Which isn't a big surprise considering how much you-"

Liz cut him off.

"Michael! Don't, please, not here…"

He looked up at her and then eased up his grip on her hand and gave her a short nod, to which she breathed a sigh of relief, but then realized that she did so too soon, as Maria had built herself up into going on a tirade, and so she continued, undeterred by anyone in the group, all of them slightly intimidated by the young woman.

"Okay, _seriously?_ She says a simple 'please' and you're just mister compliant, all of the sudden? How is it you didn't have the guts to tell this to me when it first happened! And, speaking of that, when _did_ it happen? 'Cause I'm suddenly _dying_ to know when my best friend decided to commit the one act that can pretty much never be forgiven with my _boyfriend!"_

Michael stood up and defended Liz, while she looked on in shock.

"Okay, first of all, we were never really together! Hooking up every now and again in the eraser room along with half-assed attempts at pretending to be a couple does not constitute a real relationship of _any_ kind! And second of all, why does it even matter when it happened? She wasn't with Max and I wasn't with you, so we have done _nothing_ wrong!" he finished, his chest heaving and eyes blazing, and, god help her, if Liz wasn't a little bit turned on by it.

Here he was, defending her honor, not caring what anyone said to him, and she was just silently, and a bit guiltily, noticing just how much a physical presence and bearing that he had.

Maria gaped, trying to say something, but he cut her off before she could, and turned to look at the rest of the group.

"This is the deal: Liz and I are together, and you either support us or you don't. I know that this is a lot to take in right now on top of everything else, but I don't really care. We care about each other and aren't going to hide it just to make you guys feel better, alright?"

Both she and Michael were surprised when Tess spoke up.

"Alright. Fair enough."

Liz caught her eye and the girl nodded at her, to which she smiled and nodded back. Alex looked like he was still in shock, but then he looked over at the two of them and nodded as well, and said, "I'm with Tess. That seems fair to me."

Kyle was still ignoring everyone, and so everyone's gaze turned to Max, who was still silent. Liz manage to catch his eye and she tried to silently plead with him to understand that wasn't doing this to hurt him or get back at him, but that it was what she really wanted…and then, after several long moments, he managed a nod.

"Okay," he said, looking up at Michael and solidly holding his gaze. "I support you."

Liz saw Tess's hand gently rub Max's shoulder, and it was obvious to her that Max truly cared for Tess and cared about keeping her happy, so he was going to be alright with her and Michael, which was more than Liz had ever expected of him. It just proved to her how good Tess was for him.

She looked back over towards Maria, who still stood in the middle of the room, and she waited for a response.

Maria threw her hands up in the air.

"I can't…I just can't deal with this," she said, and then grabbed her coat from her chair and stormed out of the room, and Liz listened as her friend's footsteps went down the stairs and then faded away in the distance. There was the sound of a back door slamming and she winced.

Michael reached up and pulled her down to his lap, wrapping his hand around her shoulders, letting her rest her head on _his_ shoulder.

"I'm sorry," he whispered in her ear, and she merely nodded.

"I know."

There was another long moment of silence, and then Kyle slapped his hands on his knees, breaking the silence, and said, "Okay, then. Now that _that's_ over, is it okay if I finish off the chips or take them home with me? My dad and I have been low on game-time snack food, so if it's okay can I just…?"

He gestured to the food still on the table and Liz heard a small laugh escape her lips.

She lifted her head from Michael's chest and nodded.

"Yeah, sure, Kyle. Go ahead."

Kyle just nodded back and then stood and grabbed the chips and dip, and headed for the door, but just as Kyle was about to go through the door, Liz added, "And Kyle…thanks."

He just gave her a tight-lipped smile and nodded, knowing exactly what she meant by her words, but she could also see a slight pain behind his eyes. She knew that look. That was the one that she used when she was trying to keep from anyone knowing that she was in pain.

"Anytime, Liz," he said, continuing to smile. "Anytime. Besides, Buddha says, "If a man who enjoys a lesser happiness beholds a greater one, let him leave aside the lesser to gain the greater.""

And with those parting words, he left.

But then, like she had heard Michael and Max the other day while on the couch, she heard him through the wall mutter under his breath, "Damn migraine…fourth day in a row," and she suddenly felt a chill down her spine. He was having migraines, too?

She felt unsettled, but the put the feeling to the side for the time being, knowing that she could deal with it later.

The six of them sat in silence for a while longer, four of them looking at the couple in the chair, all of them realizing on some level that they were a good match for each other. Even Max could see it, now that he could truly see them for the first time. Where Michael was hot-headed, Liz was level-headed. Where Michael was emotional, Liz was logical. And, actually, when Michael was too logical when he needed to be emotional, Liz compensated for it. They fit each other well.

Max looked over at his sister and gave her a nod, realizing just how more accepting she was than him, and finally realizing what it meant to be a leader. It meant being able to acknowledge when one was wrong and learn from those mistakes, and not being worried about always making the perfect decisions…just the best ones that he could.

Michael finally broke the silence and said, "Thanks guys. We appreciate it. _Really_."

Alex just shook his head.

"Oh, it was nothing," he said, waving a hand towards them. "I mean, you two _are_ the two most stubborn people that I know. You go well together."

Liz let out a watery chuckle, as a few tears had escaped as she had thought about how Maria had left, and gave her friend a soft look and said, "Yeah, well, I think so, too," and looked up at Michael and then leaned up and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

His face started to turn red and she smiled. Good to know she could make him an uncomfortable as she had been earlier when he had reached for her hand in such an obvious manner.

Isabel just shook her head slightly and then motioned to the door and said, "What was that with Kyle, by the way?"

Liz tried to scramble for an answer, but Michael cut her off.

"He knew."

At this, four pairs of eyebrows shot up, and then Alex said, "_That's_ why he was acting so weird at the Crash Down on Saturday morning! He found out about you two, didn't he?"

They both started to nod, but then Liz stopped nodding, realizing that couldn't have been right. The Prom had been on Friday night and they hadn't run into Kyle until Sunday morning. That meant that he'd figured it out a whole day before he'd talked to them.

"Michael, but on Saturday morning…" He waved a hand and said, "I know, I know. He must've seen us in the back, Liz. Remember? When we were…uh…you know…indisposed."

He raised his eyebrows at her, and she blushed and nodded.

"Right. _Then_."

Both she and Michael looked uncomfortable, and then Isabel said, "You mean he saw you two making out in the back room?" Liz turned even more red, and Isabel just let out a small laugh and added, "Good to know that you're not such a perfect girl, after all. Michael, on other hand…well, let's just say that I'm not the least bit surprised."

Michael brushed off the comment, and looked over at Max, still slightly concerned about his reaction. Max had _said_ that he was okay with it, but he was certain that he really wasn't. At least, not entirely. It had to bug him that Liz had fallen for his best friend, someone who seemed to be her polar opposite in every way, and Michael was simply waiting for Max to take either one or both of them aside to talk to them about what they were doing…and he wasn't disappointed.

"Liz," Max said, catching her eye. "Can I talk to you for a moment? Uh, alone?"

She looked over at Michael and he nodded, so she extricated herself out of his lap and walked into the kitchen, motioning for Max to follow her.

As soon as they were alone, she turned to him and waited for him to start.

He hesitated for a moment, and then said, "I'm, uh, not very interested in _how_ you two got together, but I guess…I guess I _do_ want to know why. I mean," he added, shoving his hands in his front pockets the way that he did when he was unsure of himself, "He _is_ Michael, after all. You two don't exactly have a lot in common."

Liz shrugged her shoulders, trying to think of how she could explain it to him in a way that he would understand and then let out a small smile as she figure out exactly how to say it.

"Michael is…so similar to you in some ways. One of those ways is that he cares a lot about the people around him…but instead of pulling them closer, the way you do, he tends to push them away. He is one of the most broken souls I've ever met," and when she said this, she saw Max start to roll his eyes, and she grabbed his arm and stared him in the eye, trying to make him take her seriously. "Max, this isn't me being poetic. Michael's been through hell and back, having not only to deal with being an alien from another planet, but also having had to deal with Hank as a father. That damages a person in more ways than you can_ imagine_…and yet, he's come out stronger for it."

Max's eyes softened slightly and he looked pensive as she continued.

"He's been on his own for a long time. Most of his life, actually. And, because of that, he expects people to carry their own weight. Because of that, he doesn't put me on some sort of impossibly high pedestal, and I don't do that to him. And because of _that_, we can see each other more clearly than you and I ever did."

Max slowly nodded.

After a moment, he said, "I get that. Just…it still doesn't make it all that easy, even though Tess and I have been…well, you know."

Liz nodded.

"Yeah, I know."

They shared a smile and as they walked out of the kitchen, Max muttered under his breath, "Oh, and could you keep the PDA's down to a minimum?"

Liz laughed out loud and walked back over to Michael, this time sitting on the arm of the chair, running a hand through his thick hair, which she secretly absolutely loved. He looked up at her and she just gave him a reassuring smile.

He seemed happy enough with that and returned her gesture with his hand on her knee.

Isabel averted her eyes and said, "And with _that_, I'm gone. I've got a Trig test tomorrow morning, and I have no desire to fail it, so Alex," she added, grabbing his arm, "You're coming with me. You're passing that class with flying colors and I need to steal some of those colors to make my grade just as good as yours."

Liz watched in amusement as Alex was dragged out, nearly dropping the basketball that he still had in his hands.

"Bye!" he tossed over his shoulder as they left.

At this, Tess and Max both stood up and said their goodbyes, leaving her and Michael all alone.

He looked up at her, and then, in a sudden and surprising move, he pulled her down into his lap, her legs across his legs and over the other armrest, and then leaned in and took her mouth in a sudden, but not unwelcome, passionate kiss. She didn't bother to protest and moaned against his mouth and then gasped as she felt him slide his hands beneath her and then lift her at the same time that he stood up, in one fluid move, and then moved the two of them over to the couch.

He laid back on it first, never breaking their kiss, and he then helped her settle her legs on either side of his waist so she was straddling him, and she relished in the feel of being in control, sliding her hands over his broad chest, daringly slipping her hand beneath the hem of his shirt and smiling against his lips as he let out a gasp of his own.

"Parker," he whispered against her lips, "You're going to be the death of me."

She pulled back slightly and gave him a devious grin.

"Yeah, maybe so, Guerin, but what a way to go..."

He grinned back at her and reached up and stole another kiss, but before he could take it any further, the door swung open to the room…and in walked her parents.

* * *

**Part 18/?**


	19. Chapter 19

**19**

Scrambling to maintain some sort of poise in her parents' eyes, she immediately pulled away and stood in the middle of the room, leaving Michael to fend for himself and look for his dignity somewhere on the floor as he stepped up and tried to figure out how to handle the situation.

"Uh…hi, Mr. and Mrs. Parker," he said, cordial, and then, before her parents could say anything, he did something that shocked everyone. "I'm _so_ sorry that you saw that, and it was uncalled for. I can promise you that it won't happen again."

They both looked at him, and Liz could tell that her mother was still considering saying something, but her dad cut her off and said, "Thank you, Michael. It's appreciated, but I think we need to talk to Liz alone. We'll see you tomorrow," he added with a pointed look.

Both she and Michael could tell that it was a dismissal, and he simply pressed a kiss to her cheek and muttered a "See you tomorrow," and walked through the door her parents had just come through, leaving Liz behind to face the consequences. She stared down at the floor, unable to look either of them directly in the eye. This was easily the most embarrassing moment that she'd ever had in her entire life, and at the same time it was also a terrifying moment.

She knew that her dad already knew, but she had no idea if he'd told mom yet.

"Liz."

That was her dad. She was unsure by the tone, however. It didn't sound like anger, but she wasn't sure what emotion it was. Carefully, she raised her eyes and saw only gentle reproach in both of their eyes.

She looked at them, waiting for them to say something, still sure that they were going to yell at her.

But they didn't.

Instead, her dad gave her a look, looked over at his wife, and then looked back at Liz and said, "Don't do it again, sweetie. If you're going to start spending…uh,_ time_ with Michael, I would recommend to _not_ do it in the living room, understood?"

She nodded and looked at her mom…and felt completely relieved when her mom nodded, too.

"Same from me, honey. I like Michael, but…not _that_ much," she said, raising an eyebrow at her, and she nodded, blushing.

"Got it. No more. Trust me…it won't happen again."

And with that, she escaped the living room and went to the comfort of her own bedroom. Quickly, she changed out of her clothes and into a pair of dark green pajama pants and a gray t-shirt. She was tired, _especially_ after everything that had happened at the meeting.

As she thought about the meeting, her thoughts fell to her friend and she felt her stomach churn. It had gone exactly as she had expected, which, of course, didn't make her feel any better about it. She hated the fact that she had, _sort_ of, betrayed her best friend, and that she couldn't talk to her. Liz looked at her phone, briefly entertaining the thought that she might call her, but she knew that if she called she would only end up pushing her further away. Maria had to come to terms with it on her own, otherwise it would never happen.

Liz sighed and laid back on her covers, tapping her fingers absently against her stomach, wondering what she should do...if there was anything that she _could_ do.

Just as she had pulled her notebooks onto the bed with her and decided to do a bit more homework before turning in, there was a knock on her door.

"Come in," she said, and to her surprise her mom walked in, a few random shirts thrown over one arm, as if she had been in the middle of doing laundry, and she looked up at her mom, a questioning look on her face, trying to figure out just what her mom was doing in her room.

"Hi, sweetie," she said as she sat down on the edge of her daughter's bed, not quite meeting her eyes.

Liz avoided looking her mother directly in the eye and tried to silently figure out what was going on while she responded with, "Hi, mom…uh, what're doing here? I mean, I'm sorry about before, you know, with Michael. That was a _really_ awkward situation and I never should have-"

Her mom cut her off.

"That's not why I'm here. Actually, I'm here because I simply wanted to see how you were doing," she said, finally looking her daughter in the eye, a concerned look on her face. "You look tired, and I've had a feeling that for the past few days that a lot has happened that I don't know about."

Her daughter's shoulders tensed slightly, her eyes shifting away and down, and then she gave a short nod.

"Yeah…I guess there has."

Her mom gently nudged her shoulder.

"Such as…?"

Liz shrugged, a little bit nervous about telling her mom about her migraines. She knew that her mom would go into over-protective mother-hen mode, and she didn't need that right now. What she needed, most of all, was some answers to what was going on in her life.

She was about to ask her to leave, when a question occurred to her.

"Well, there is this thing that we're doing in science class right now, and it's been making me think about the future, you know?" Her mom simply gave her a look, so she quickly came up with the small white lie that she knew would lead her on the right track to the answers that she needed. "We've been studying fertility and it's gotten me thinking about when I want to have a family of my own…and I was wondering why you and dad only had me."

Her mom gave her a look, let out a sigh, and then lifted a hand and gently ran her fingers through her daughter's hair.

"We…we tried for four years, your dad and I," she said. "We finally went to a fertility clinic just outside of Roswell and then…we had you."

At that, she turned her head and she looked at her mom in surprise, not quite believing what her mom had just told her. Her parents had…had done artificial insemination? Was it possible that she was…that she was one of _them?_ She just inwardly shook her head. No, it was just a coincidence. But still…it wouldn't hurt to take a look at the facility her parents had used.

Carefully calculating her words and her actions, knowing that saying or doing the wrong thing would make her mom suspicious, she idly flipped the pages of her notebook and then asked, "Which clinic? Maybe I could find out some more stuff about it for extra credit."

Her mom gave her an indulgent smile.

"Always an overachiever, aren't you?" She sighed. "Well, it's a good idea, sweetheart, but they aren't there anymore. They were only there for a few years, and then they were gone. I think they moved out east, somewhere, looking for a better place to make money."

Liz just nodded, slightly upset that her lead had dried up so quickly, but then her mom said, "But the stupid building's still there. I don't know _why_ they haven't torn that eyesore down."

Her heart raced at the good news, but she hid her excitement and said, nonchalantly, "Oh, you know. That's Roswell, for you. Leave the old building's around. You never know when you might reuse, them, right?"

Her mom laughed and nodded.

"Right. Well, then, go ahead and get some sleep, sweetheart."

Her mom was about to leave the room, when she thought of another question and she quickly asked, "Mom? Do, uh, migraines run in the family?"

Her mom shook her head.

"Nope. You're the first sweetie…why do you ask?" she added, and then she said, with a slightly disappointed and worried look, "You had another one today, didn't you?" Liz looked surprised, and her mom clarified. "Your dad told me about the one that you had on Sunday. Said that it was a bad one. Well, you know the drill. Books away, take some medicine, and _sleep._"

She nodded, but in her mind she was already forming a plan of what she was going to do as soon as her mother stepped out that door.

"Got it, mom. Consider it done."

Her mom nodded again, and left the room, closing the door behind her. As soon as the door closed, Liz thought about going for her phone…but then decided that she really _did_ need to do some homework. She stayed up until eleven-thirty, and then called it a night, but set her alarm for just a couple of hours later. When it went off, she quickly silenced it and then went for her phone. This was something that had to be taken care of _tonight._

Without even having to think about it, she punched in the numbers to a phone number that she had called nearly every day during one certain summer.

"Hello?" answered a sleepy voice, and Liz replied with, "Kyle, this is Liz. We need to talk. Can you come over?"

She could practically hear the eye roll.

"Liz, I am _trying_ to sleep, emphasis on the word _trying_, in case you didn't hear it. Can't this wait 'til tomorrow?"

She shook her head and said, "No, it really can't. Look, if you can't come over, then I can just sneak over there and you can explain to your dad, the _sheriff_, why I'm sneaking into your bedroom at one o'clock in the morning on a school night…"

That seemed to wake him up.

"Alright, alright! I'll be there in ten minutes. On the balcony?"

"Yeah. Great. See you then."

She hung up the phone and then went for her notebook and ripped out a sheet of paper and grabbed a pen. Quickly, she wrote down everything that she had found out in the past few days and combined it with what she had discovered while talking to her mom. She had been born in 1979, which coincided with what they knew about Nasedo. He had been around after the crash for a long while, and he could have set something up in Roswell without being discovered. All she needed to do now was find out more about the clinic.

She grabbed her coat and slipped out onto the balcony, and sat in one of the lounge chairs to wait for Kyle.

A few minutes later she heard a low clang, and then looked over and saw Kyle, in sweatpants, tennis shoes, a t-shirt, and his letterman's jacket, stumbling over the fire escape onto the balcony, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"God, Parker, this had _better_ be good, or, so help me God, I will make you regret it."

She just brushed it off and pulled him down into a chair.

"Kyle, this is important, I swear. Now…what do you know about how you were born?"

He looked at her, his eyes going wide. "Uh, please tell me you're joking," he said, putting his hands together and shaking them in her direction, "Because I was just having a dream starring all of the Victoria's Secret models in a _very_ pleasant way, and now you have just _ruined_ that for me. You see, there's this thing called the birds and the bees, and-"

She cut him off.

"No, Kyle. I mean…why are you an only child? Did your parents have problems, uh…conceiving?"

He shook his head and stood up from the chaise.

"No, no, no…you are not telling me that you woke me up at _one_ in the _morning_ just to ask me about my parents having _sex_, Parker! This is…beyond redemption! I am _not_ having this conversation," and he headed for the fire escape, but she grabbed his arm and, with surprising strength, pulled him back down to the chair.

"Kyle, this is _important_. I need to know."

He shook his head and shrugged his shoulders.

"How the hell should I know? I mean, it's not exactly a subject of conversation that comes up between father and son, you know?"

She gave him a look and then slowly nodded, realizing that this wasn't going to be as easy as she had hoped. She then pulled out the piece of paper and handed it over to him, knowing that if anyone could help her get some perspective on her theory, it would be him. He looked at the notebook page with a slightly blank look at first, but as his eyes scanned down the page, they widened.

"Liz…this is…this is…do you understanding what you're implying, here?"

Liz nodded.

He slowly stood and then gave her another look, this time serious, and she waited for what he was going to say, knowing that hearing it out loud was going to be very different than from simply writing it down and reading it on paper.

Finally, he said, "You think that you and I are…are the other ones from the ship? Along with…with this Elise person?"

She nodded.

"Why?"

She gestured to the paper and said, "Because of everything we know. And because you've had migraines since you were fourteen-"

He cut her off, a slightly disturbed crossing his features.

"How do you know that?"

She gave him a look.

"Because _I've_ had migraines since I was fourteen, since _Elise_ has had migraines since _she_ was fourteen. All three of us are the same age, and we all even _look_ similar, Kyle! Did you never wonder why it felt weird sometimes when we kissed when we were dating?" He said nothing, but she could see the silent agreement in his eyes, so she continued. "Did you never wonder why whenever we fought, even when we broke up, it felt like we were still going to be friends? Why, no matter how hard we try, we can't seem to really hate the other person? Why, even though I practically cheated on you with Max, you were never _really_ angry about it?"

He gave her a long look and slowly nodded.

"You mean…we're not just alien, but that we're related somehow?" Liz nodded and he nodded again, as well, and then said, "But what about Elise? How does she fit into all of this?"

She shook her head.

"I don't know about that one, yet, but I'm _sure_ of it. Just…talk to your dad, alright? I told my mom that we were studying fertility in science and it wasn't too hard to talk about it once the subject came up. Just do the same with your dad."

Kyle snorted.

"Yeah, talk about fertility with my dad, the sheriff. Gee, I sure see _that_ conversation going well…" She rolled her eyes and glared at him and he relented. "Fine, fine! I'll talk to him about it, but please understand that I'm only doing it for _your_ sake. It'll probably scar me for life," he added, tucking his hands into the pockets of his jacket, and she gave him a faint smile.

"Thank you, Kyle. But, you see now why this was so important?"

He nodded.

"Yeah…yeah, I do. Don't worry about it too much, Liz. We'll figure it out, alright?"

She nodded, and he started down the fire escape, but then he paused and asked, "Oh, and have you mentioned this to Michael, yet?"

She shook her head.

"No…not yet. I'm, uh, not sure how he'll take it, you know?"

Kyle gave her a reassuring smile and said, "Well, the guy's pretty smitten with you, you know, so use that to your advantage when you tell him. Oh, and just so you know," he added, "I don't think he'll be too upset by it. In fact, it might just make his day to know he's not as alone as he thought he was."

Liz let out a small laugh and replied, "You know, Kyle…you're a lot smarter than you give yourself credit for."

He gave her a roguish grin.

"I know, just don't tell anyone else. Don't want to ruin my reputation as the mindless jock, alright?"

She laughed again, and then watched as he left and was able to hear him walk away from the bottom of the ladder, her hearing doing the same thing that it had done earlier that evening, picking up on even the slightest sound, and she smiled to herself.

It was nice to have someone on her and Michael's side. Someone that they could trust.

She slipped back through her window and went over to her desk and made one last call, feeling much more relieved when she had.

As soon as she slid under her covers, she knew that she would sleep well, and had the faint feeling that tomorrow was going to be one hell of a day.

* * *

**Part 19/?**


End file.
